Lost & Found
by kazuko59
Summary: AU. Special Drama. What if at the end, Ainosuke's resolve crumbles, leaving him vulnerable in front of his older brother. What will Ainosuke do? And how will Yumeto react to the drastic decision his baby brother had come onto?
1. Prologue

k59: i can't believe i'm starting another multi-chapter, seeing how busy i will be this & next year.. but, well, this idea just stuck in my head & demanded to me to write it.. i'll find time to write this.. for those who have chosen to read this, this will be a very slow progress, i've warned you.. so u'll have to be very patient... well, that settled... enjoy^^~

* * *

><p>Prologue – 'That Fated Day'<p>

xxx

xxx

The moment he opened his eyes, everything was quiet. Too quiet that he was sure even the sound of a needle falling would make a loud voice. Soundlessly, he got to his feet and, ignoring the people who looked like they were frozen with their eyes fixed in the tv screen, slipped out of the room. The corridor was unsurprisingly empty, but he hurried anyway. This point of stand still could be broken any time.

And just as the thought was formed in his mind, the hell broke loose.

He ducked into the closest door in the vicinity and quickly closed it back. Just as he leaned back onto the door, he heard sound footstep from the door behind him. Mixing into the sound was his teacher's frantic calling of his name. His lips formed a small, sad smile.

"I'm sorry, Sayama-sensei. But I can't go. I can't. I just can't. Not when there's a chance to make sure that my suspicion is right. To make sure that…"

His breath hitched and a single sob making its way out from his mouth. He slid down with his back still leaned on the door. Sitting on the floor, he hugged his legs close to his chest, face buried on his knees.

"That my brother is still alive."

He sat there, waiting and fighting down his urge to cry. Only when he finally heard nothing from the door behind him did he started to move.

A Graveyard.

It was the first thing that came into his mind as he stepped out of the room he had been hiding in. Everywhere he looked, his eyes always met a dull colour of orange. He used to love this colour, the colour when the sun departed from the sky. But now, this only seemed to accent the stillness, made it looked dead and abandoned.

His legs stopped walking as he reached the room the laptop was kept. Wordlessly, he pushed the door opened and made his way to the laptop. He grabbed a similar one from the desk behind it and transferred the stickers to it. The next one to go was the chain and he nodded in satisfaction as he was sure his brother would never know the difference without turning it on.

Hugging the real laptop close to his chest, he slipped back out of the room. It took him a bit of time, but he finally find Ohuchi's desk and reluctantly placed the laptop there.

It seemed… no, felt… wrong.

All of his life, he had always looked up to his brother. To know that his action would probably turned up against his brother…

He shook his head furiously. This was no time to think about this thing. What important now was to make sure that the terrorist did not get his hand on the laptop. If that person really turned up to be his brother, then…

Before he got the chance to finish that thought, he felt his forehead thumped to something solid lightly. Raising his hand to rub his temple – not that it hurt, it was more like a reflex action – he realized with a jolt that his feet had brought him back to the 'laptop room' as he had dubbed it.

Sighing softly, he moved his hand to the door knob and was about to turn it when something caught his attention. The room was no longer empty. He caught glimpse of the person inside just as he pointed his gun to the chain that locked the fake laptop to the table. Tightening his grip on the handle, he pushed the door open as the loud noise shattered the silence, drowning the creak sound when the door opened.

He walked soundlessly in front of the table, eyes staring intently on the figure right in front of him.

"Why?"

He could see the man froze for a moment at the sound of his voice. But instead of soaring, his heart seemed to drop. The man then diverted his eyes to his and his heart break at the familiar brown orbs that gazing their identical copy.

"What?"

He could not hold back a soft sob that escaped his throat at the familiar voice.

"Why did you do it? It's you, right? Big brother?"

The man said nothing in return, and for a split of a second, he wished that he would deny it. That his suspicion was wrong. That his brother was not the one behind all of those cases. But then the man snorted and he felt his hope crashed ruthlessly to the ground.

He watched pensively as the pulled off his mask and he was greeted with his brother's familiar face. He took a deep breath in hope to relax, eyes still fixed on his brother.

"Why did you do it?"

His brother smiled briefly before sitting on the table behind him. His pose was completely relaxed, acting as if his little brother did not just find out his secret identity. When he finally talked, he had entirely ignored his question. Instead, he asked back.

"Why are you still here? Why did you not escape with everybody else?"

He took a deep breath, feeling very tired suddenly and very much at the verge of crying.

"Because I figured your real target is to get the laptop. You just wanted to empty the police station, right? All that you did, they were for this purpose, right?"

Maybe it was just his imagination, but for a second there, just in a flash, he thought he saw his brother's eyes gleamed with pride. No, it couldn't be. It must have been only his imagination.

"How did you figure it out? Hm?"

"At the Virus Research Centre, you talked in front of the camera there. It was then that I realized it was you."

His brother chuckled and he felt his heart cracked at hearing it.

"Even though I had specially made this mask to disguise myself?"

He watched as his brother threw the mask to the table right in front of him. He felt tears started to gather in his eyes.

"Maybe your face. But your hand was still my brother's."

A look of confusion took place to his brother's face.

"Hand?"

He lifted his hand, forming a gesture that his brother had very often showed to him, before lowering it down.

"That hand gesture was yours."

"Ah~! I guess I did that."

He watched warily as his brother casually put his gun back into its holder. With eyes still fixed on the gun, he continued, "It's okay. Everything will be alright."

He lifted his eyes to meet his brother's. "That was what your hand gesture mean. My big brother is not the type to commit suicide, so the possible answer is only one. That capsule must have been a fake."

A ghost of smile touched his brother's lips, but he was too focused on getting his feelings and composure in check to notice this.

"Correct. But everyone got worked out and ran away. Humans really are stupid, right?"

His brother laughed and all he could do was to watch silently, with the crack in his heart getting bigger by each passing second. His lack of response did not go unnoticed by his brother, who looked at him with a blank expression.

"Huh? You don't think it's interesting?"

He could not help the pout that was working its way to his lips. Nor could he help the hurt that filled his voice as he answered, "It was not interesting in the least."

"Ah, really?" His brother had put in a frown here, as if not understanding why his little brother was not laughing along. "But I had been dying to try it. Even though, truthfully, there are other ways for me to get my hands on this laptop."

"I had always thought that my brother was murdered by someone. Do you have any idea how that made me feel? Have you?"

He did not know what had gotten into him for him to yell at his brother like that. But whatever it was, it was still no match to expressionless face that his brother was giving him right now.

"But this was something that I did for you as an older brother. No matter how sad you were, it was still better that knowing your big brother is a robber and murderer."

To say that he was taken aback by his brother's answer was an understatement.

"M-murderer?"

"Hey, hey! Surely you have realized that I need to get rid of people below me in order to live the life that I do now. Ah, by the way, the body that you buried was Hamada, my ex-assistant. He was getting in the way and stole my laptop, so I killed him."

His eyes widened as his brain processed the information given to him.

No. No! It can't be true! His brother can't be a murderer. He just can't!

He turned desperate eyes to his brother, silently pleading for him to say that it was not true. That all that he had been told was a big lie.

"You're a murderer?"

He asked finally. When his brother continued to look at him with that blank expression, the tears that he had valiantly held in bay until now was starting to threaten to spill over.

"That's a lie. It must be!"

A rather hysterical tone had filled his voice by now.

"You were forced, right? Those bad guys, they threatened you and force you to help them, right?"

A smirk was thrown casually his way and his brother slowly picked himself up from his sitting position. When his eyes met his, the junior high student felt a chill down his spine. That look, those eyes, it was as if the kind brother he knew was no longer exist.

"Good and evil. Which one do you think is better? When you think about it for a while, the answer is very obvious. The correct answer… is evil."

He shook his head rapidly, his composure quickly fading.

"That's a lie! It was obvious that the answer is good. Instead of doing bad things for yourself, it is better to do something good for somebody else's sake."

His tears were pooling at his eyes, but he did nothing to wipe it away. Instead, he concentrated all his attention to try to talk his brother out of it. To knock some sense into that brilliant brain of his.

"I've always admired you, you know? The way you took care of me while you still struggling through university. You even made it so far as to be accepted to work in a huge company."

His brother nodded, and in a moment he thought that he did it. But, just as quickly, his hope was crushed again.

"That was just it. I am a scientific person. I can't accept things until I try it myself."

It was his turn to frown now, "Try it?"

This time, his brother really smiled at him, even when there was no warmth in it.

"My left eye. The left eye that I donated to you."

That sentence hit him harder that any punch would ever be. Was that all what he was worth in his brother's eyes? Just an experiment? Just like any other specimen that his brother could try his theory into?

By this point, he had shut down anything that his brother said to him. Tears started flowing down his cheeks. If his brother really thought nothing of him, then there was no point of arguing anymore. He just stood there, seemingly listening, but in reality he just stared blankly at his brother.

He felt empty inside. He felt like someone had just taken a hammer and crushed his heart into pieces. He felt his world crumble around him. He felt nothing mattered anymore.

He let his gaze followed his brother. Eyes staring unblinkingly as his brother picked up the laptop and moved to stand beside him. Finally he was out of his self-depreciating trance enough to make out what his brother was saying.

"By the way, there are only bad things here," his brother gestured for the laptop. "Like bank robberies and terrorist attacks. Such perfect crimes."

His eyes widened once again and when he spoke he could not get his voice above a whisper.

"Please, stop it…"

"Sorry but, I'll continue to carry out the things in this laptop."

"Niichan, please…"

He was pleading with his brother, but it seemed like his voice can no longer reach him. It was hopeless. His plea only fell upon deaf ears.

"Will you kill me?"

"W-what?"

His brother snickered at his disbelief expression, "Let me tell you." He stared dumbly as his brother pulled out his gun and pointed it at his forehead. "I. Could. Kill. You."

His heart clenched painfully at his brother exclamation. Brown eyes searching for any trace of warmth in that now cold and distant eyes. But he found none. It was as if the brother that he knew was no longer exist, no longer alive. Instead, in front of him, there was this stranger with his brother's face and voice.

Yes, that was it. His brother was dead, at least the brother he knew. He was all alone now. Then, if that was true, what was the point of living?

_Nothing. There is nothing I can cling to anymore. I have no one who cares about me. I am all alone. Then, mum, dad, it is alright, right? If I am about to die, wouldn't it be best if I die because of brother's hand?_

That was the last straw. His mind flooded with anguish and depressions and he could felt himself giving up. He closed his eyes, tears rolling faster than ever.

"Kill me then."

If he had kept his eyes open, he would have seen his brother's eyes widened in shock. The way his brother's brown orbs searching, just like he had done a few minutes ago, for any sign that said he was no serious. His brother's lips were moving open and close, too shocked to form any coherent thought. He saw nothing of these.

The only thing that he knew right then, was that everything was over. That any second now, he would be joining his parents, would be welcoming the darkness that would embrace him. And darkness did come to him. Just in another form than what he thought.

He felt something hit the back of his neck, just like earlier that day, and winced from the pain. And for the second time in the span on 24 hours, he fell unconscious.

xxx

Yumeto stared disbelievingly at the limp form he had caught in his arms, eyes wide with shock. He had not known what to do the moment his brother said to kill him. His mind had shut down and finally, opting to let this matter rest for a while, knocked his brother unconscious.

He slid to the floor, bringing his little brother with him.

This was not supposed to happen. He was supposed to go to police station, take his laptop, and then go away. Simple. But, now that he thought about it, since when did anything had ever been simple with this kid around?

He chuckled humorlessly, pulling his baby brother into his laps, cradling him close. He smiled sadly and ran his thumb over his brother's cheeks to wipe the tears away.

"Why – oh do tell me why – should you so brave, so compassionate, so… _you_. Why can't you live happily with the money I gave you and accept that I'm gone?"

He had not lied when he said that faking his death was something he did thinking of himself as Ainosuke's older brother, though most of everything else were big lies. With his brother figuring out that he was still alive, all he could do was to convince him that he was evil, hoping that his brother would then backed away.

But no. His baby brother had bravely confronted him, trying to get him back. So he pushed his little brother further away, threatening him and telling him spiteful words. Even threatened to take his life. All of that for nothing.

Ainosuke was still the same boy he knew. Still the same kind-hearted boy, still too curious for his own good. And he had broken him. He had broken his baby brother to the point that his brother completely lost his will to live.

How would he ever fix this?

How could he _leave_ _him_ like this?

Carefully considering his options, he looked around the room and his eyes found the whiteboard hanging on the wall. He did not have the heart to leave his brother. Not when there was a chance that his baby brother might be suicidal, remembering the finality that he had whispered those two words. Steeling his will, he carefully laid his brother down on the floor and walked to it. Satisfied with what he had written for the policemen, he moved back to his brother.

He placed his laptop on his little brother's stomach and rearranged his arms so that his brother was now holding it close to his chest. He then gently moved his own arms to the back of his brother's upper torso and the other the back of his knees. With extra care, he lifted the still form into his arms and started walking out of the building.

Even before he walked pass the door, he could see Noriko waiting impatiently for him beside the car. He could saw her lifting her eyebrow when she noticed his disguise was gone. The eyebrow shot even higher when her eyes landed on the unconscious form in his arms.

He was about to walk down the steps when she stopped him, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"And what do you think you're doing?"

He let his mask slipped back on, letting no emotion showed on his face.

"Ainosuke knows. He figured out my disguise. And I think it was too risky to let him roam about freely."

Noriko narrowed her eyes at that, but said nothing. Wordlessly, she walked pass him and into the building. He sighed heavily and gestured for the driver to help him open the back door. He slipped inside the room and positioned his brother so that his head was resting on his laps comfortably.

When he was done, he looked out of the car, only to be met with suspicious gaze that Noriko was giving him. She was gripping his mask with her hand. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and for a moment he thought she was going to question him. But to his relief, she merely closed the back door and took a seat at the front seat. Not a moment later, the car started zooming through the empty street.

Sighing in relief, he focused his attention back to the person lying on his laps. He put a hand on his brother's forehead, grimacing as he remembered the resigned expression his brother had given him.

He did not know what to do with his brother right now. But he did know one thing for sure. He was not going to let his brother out of his watch.

For a very long time.


	2. Episode 1, Part 1

k59: i noticed something when i was writing this chapter... that is i got a hell lot of work to do if i want to finish this story... not that i plan to abandoned this... i can't do that to those who had read this... i know how suck it feels when you read a story but the author never finished it... anyway, enough ranting, i finally get on with the main story... i tried to take a different approach with this story, hope u find it ok...enjoy^^~

* * *

><p>to Milennia-hime: i'm kind of worried about 'the twist' actually... some character may appear a bit out f character, but... well, i can't have the story as the way i want it to if they don't... thx for being patient^^~<p>

to lemonpie: hope this chapter worth your stalking^^... i'll do my best to update as soon as i can...

to tsubasaquill: well... i surely hope that u'll enjoy this 1 too... i know, it's a whole new level of amount of work need to be put in... but i'll do my best^^... thx for being patient^^~

* * *

><p>Episode1, Part 1 – 'And Finally It Begins'<p>

xxx

xxx

He groaned when the sunrays hit his face as the curtain to his bedroom window was opened. Attempting to escape the annoying light and loud noise he knew would be coming in a moment, he rolled over and buried his face into the soft pillow, pulling the thick cover tighter around himself and snuggling closer to his bed. He sighed in content when the warmth engulfed him and his mind drifted peacefully back to dreamland.

That comfort, however, did not last long. Just as he was about to fall back to sleep again, he felt the cover around him wrenched away. He made a soft sound of protest and curled into a ball, trying to regain back some of the warmth.

"Rise and shine you sleepyhead! Today is too beautiful of a day to be spent tucked in your bed!"

A small whine escaped his lips as the loud noise reached his ears. He grabbed his pillow and dumped it on his head, his eyes remained closed all the while.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Knowing what going to happen next, he clutched the pillow tight, refusing to let go as he felt a tug on it. His effort was futile though, as only a second after the pillow was also pulled out of his fingers.

He whined louder and curled up tighter, feeling rather like a cat but wasn't bothered enough to stop doing it. There was a faint sound of chuckle somewhere above him the mattress beside him dipped. Then, a hand descended to his hair, ruffling it softly, more of a comforting gesture than to actually mess his hair. Not that it was neat at the time being.

"Come on! How much longer do you want to stay in bed?"

Leaning into the hand, he made another incoherent noise. He was far too comfortable to want to get out of bed, even if he had lost everything but the bed itself.

"Oh, fine! I give up!"

He felt the presence beside him stood and started to make a big commotion for such a simple matter. What was wrong with wanting to sleep in, seriously?

"Good choice," finally he murmured, voice thick with sleep.

His remark was met with silence. Against his will, he frowned lightly. Three months living with this man taught him that the older wouldn't back down easily. There was something that he was planning. He could just picture the sly smirk that he was sure adorned the man's face.

Sound of footstep going away from his bed could be heard and he frowned deeper. Okay, now he was 100% sure that the man was hiding something inside his sleeve.

"Oh, well. What to do? What to do? Actually I was planning to out to town with Ainosuke-kun, but… Well, since he doesn't seem to be interested I guess I'll just go by myself the–"

"NO! Wait! I'm up! I'm up! I wanna go!"

In only seconds, the boy had scrambled out of his bed, tripped over his own blanket which was lying haphazardly on the floor, and then latched himself to the man's arm. His fingers clutched and tugged the man's long sleeve as he continued to babbler like a little child begging for candy.

"See! I'm not sleepy! I wanna go! I promise I'll be good! Please? Please, please, please pleasepleaseple–"

He stopped suddenly when he saw the amused and satisfied smirk on the older's face. His eyes eyebrows furrowed and his lips formed a pout.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

The man in front of him just laughed joyously at the younger's annoyance. He ruffled the boy's hair again, actually making it messier that it already did this time.

"How else am I going to wake you up?"

His pout turned into a slight scowl as the man continued to laugh. Seeing the younger's displeasure, the man tried to control his laughter and managed to cool it down to a chuckle.

"I was not lying, by the way. I _was_ going to ask you whether you want to accompany me to go to the town today."

All traces of annoyance immediately disappeared as his face lit up with glee. There was a little bounce at his feet.

"Yes!"

He found that he actually didn't mind the man's laughter this time as he was pushed towards his bathroom.

"Well, then go take a take a bath and change your clothes. I'll wait for you in the living room."

Smiling brightly, he almost ran to the bathroom as he yelled back.

"Not the kitchen?"

"Nope! We're having breakfast outside!"

He was about to close the door when another thought came into his mind and he poked his head back outside.

"Yoshida-san!"

The said man turned around from his position at the door of the bedroom. The boy bit his lips in worry and the called man waited for him to sort his thought.

"Is _niichan_…? I mean, wouldn't he…? Is he…?"

The older smiled kindly at the hesitant voice and he felt his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"He's okay with it."

"Oh… Then, is he…?"

He let his question trailed off, knowing that his care-taker would understand what he was asking. Wide, hopeful eyes staring at him unblinkingly, but when the man sighed, he knew that the answer was negative.

"Never mind that! It's okay, really! I'm going to bathe! See you in a minute, Yoshida-san!"

He exclaimed as he got back into the bathroom and closed the door.

It was a few seconds later that the sound of a door being opened and closed telling him that the man had left was heard. He kept his back on his bathroom door still, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

He said that he was okay with his brother not coming with them and he was not lying. But still…

He was okay with that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

xxx

Yoshida sighed as he walked beside a certain 15 years old boy who was busy eating his ice cream and enjoying the scenery around him. Never mind that the scenery was an old dock and rows of houses. Both him and the kid had a few grocery bags with them.

He was tired. Dead tired, truthfully. Who knew that a mere shopping for food ingredients can be so exhausting?

_Well,_ he thought, _it will be if you take Ainosuke-kun with you. A bored 15 years old who had spent 3 months inside the apartment without being outside once can change a simple grocery shopping into a full fledge shopping spree._

He had spent the whole day being dragged by an energetic junior high student. The last time had been for the sake of an ice cream.

Seriously! Ice cream! How old was this child anyway? Fifteen? Or five?

Still, glancing at the soft smile the child now had on his face, all of it was worth the trouble.

He knew confronting Yumeto-san about this had been a good idea.

"_He's lonely, Yumeto-san."_

_The young man in front of him sighed heavily, rubbing his face tiredly with his hand. He stood stiffly, waiting for the crime planner to sort his thoughts. He watched silently as the man – for lack of better word – plopped himself onto the soft chair and leaned backwards, closing his eyes and resting his head at the headrest._

_For a few seconds, only silence was present in that room. Then, Yumeto opened his eyes and pushed his body forward, looking at the older man tiredly._

"_My hands are also tied, Yoshida. There's nothing I could do about it without raising suspicion from the organization, let alone Noriko. She was suspicious enough with me when I brought Ainosuke here. Alive."_

"_We kept his whereabouts hidden from everyone else."_

_He pointed out to the over worried older brother. Well, he couldn't blame him for that. He would too if someone wanted his only family member dead. _

"_True. But I can't go against my reasoning to them. To keep him hidden. There's a possibility that Noriko would find out hiding him was not my true intention."_

_He just had to smile knowingly at that respond. These two brothers were far more alike than they themselves knew. Both were so extremely stubborn._

"_Finding out that you still care about him, you mean."_

_The young man chuckled humorlessly at that._

"_I knew that Ainosuke would rub off on you in the end, Yoshida. How is he?"_

"_Like I said, lonely," he deadpanned without missing a beat._

_Yumeto actually laughed as he leaned back again on his chair, his posture relaxing as he let his shoulder slumped forward. The crime planner gazed back at him with a twinkle in his eyes. Something that only happened when he was talking about his little brother._

"_I see that his straight-forwardness in making his thought known has affected you too."_

_He smiled, "Well, what can I say? I spent 3 months taking care of him."_

_A sad look rest upon Yumeto's expression._

"_Something that should have been my job."_

_He knew he would feel bad for this later, but now, he saw his chance and he was not willing to let it go._

"_You've done the best you can, Yumeto-san, that I know you will continue to do. Why don't you let me to take him out once in a while. Like go for groceries and stuff like that?"_

_Yumeto looked thoughtful before smiling softly._

"_I think that is a wonderful idea."_

He was pulled out of his musing when he felt a drop of water fell on his face. He looked at his young companion to see him had dumped the ice cream cup – when did he finish? – and was looking up at the darkening sky.

Now he knew what he had forgotten when he felt it just before he left the apartment. Umbrella.

"We need to run. Come on!"

He tugged the young boy at his side and both of them broke into a run. The rain was getting heavier and they were both soaked to the skin. It was a good thing that they were both wearing jacket though.

It was when they were passing a bridge when he realized Ainosuke-kun was no longer following him. Looking back, he found him staring down at something.

"Ainosuke-kun? What are you doing?"

Then, without any warning, the boy ran. Only, he wasn't running to the correct direction. He was running to the opposite direction.

"Ainosuke-kun!"

He had no choice but to chase his charge. It took him by surprise when the boy took a sharp turn to below the bridge but followed him still.

He was starting to regret buying so many things. It made it hard to run. More so in this bad weather.

A flash of red caught his eyes and he frowned when he realized it was an umbrella. And not only that, it was being held by a little girl around 7. But what caught his attention the most was the sight of Ainosuke holding a wolf-like dog in his arms.

He stood quietly under the bridge, observing their interaction.

The child and the teen talked for a while before he saw the girl beamed and bowed down in grateful gesture. She ran past him, pausing a bit at the turning point and then scurried away to the apartment complex some meters away.

When he turned his attention back to the teenager, he noted that the boy had walked over to him and was looking at him pleadingly.

Oh, no. He was NOT going to give in to him this time. Definitely not. Not even when the boy was now staring at him with his big brown eyes. Nope. Never.

Oh, who was he kidding? Of all people why should it be this manipulatively adorable boy that he had to consider as his own child?

He sighed heavily.

"Fine. But he is your responsibility."

Even the sun could never compete with the bright smile the boy was giving him.

xxx

The sun rose lazily but steadily. It rays brightened the city up as flickers of yellow light steadily erase the dark blue. Yet, when most of people were still in slumber, two men were having morning tea in the younger's office, who was currently laughing heartily, ignoring the disapproving look the older man was giving him.

"I am glad that you find this funny, Yumeto-san. Now, would you be so kind to inform me how you put up with your little brother all this time?"

Finally getting his laughter under control, the crime planner smiled widely as he answered.

"Easy. I don't"

Yoshida just sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. Yumeto snickered as he saw the annoyed look on the older's face.'

"You won't believe how fast he was to be friendly with the dog. You know what he said once I agree with him keeping the dog?"

Yumeto shook his head slowly, an amused smile still decorating his face. He reached out to grab his coffee and took a sip, thinking that the older man should have done the same. Coffee in the early morning could get rid of his crankiness.

"He said, 'Thanks, Yoshida-san! Isn't that great, Rin?' Rin, Yumeto-san! Rin! He named the dog within a few minutes he met him! That child…"

He nodded his head sympathetically, having experienced firsthand how frustrating his little brother could be. Cute, yes, but it was just sometimes annoyed him to no end how he was not able to say 'no'.

"I have you to thank for this, Yoshida."

The called man looked at him strangely, as if saying, 'Now you're blaming me for this?'

Yumeto quickly amended his mistake.

"That's not what I meant. Just, you know… He was back being how he used to be before all of this started. And he wouldn't be if it was not for you. So, I thank you."

He knew that the man got his message as understanding flooded Yoshida's face.

"You don't have to, Yumeto-san. Consider it as a payback after all you've done to me. And I will be lying if I say I don't enjoy his company. Though, I must admit that the first few weeks were rather hard for him."

The crime planner sighed dejectedly. Guilt was steadily and rapidly building in his heart when he remembered how those first few weeks had been.

"Yeah, I know. And I've never been there for him."

He looked up to see the ex-bomber looking sympathetically at him.

"We both know that isn't the truth. The only problem is what are you going to do about it."

Yumeto shook his head bemusedly. He was not joking when he said that his hands were tied. He was not going to take the risk that his brother would be exposed to even greater danger than he already was.

"Nothing. It was as sure as if you ask Ainosuke to stay out of trouble. Not possible. Anyway, I think that it is time for me to start acting. It's better if Noriko has her mind somewhere else but Ainosuke."

What the both of them did not know was that at the very moment, that was exactly what a certain dark haired boy had gotten himself into.

xxx

"Rin! Come on! You're going to make the whole place slippery!"

He desperately exclaimed as he ran after the over-energetic fox-like dog. His own hair was still dripping wet from shower and so did the dog. He didn't know how, but somehow, Rin had managed to get itself into his bathroom and turned the shower on. And now he was trying to get the dog be still just for a few seconds so that he could dry it up. But it seemed that the dog was rather enjoying itself and was content with its dripping state.

Letting out an exasperated groan, he gained his speed a little bit. He was being reckless, he knew. But, if he wished to have his breakfast soon, he had no other choice. His stomach was already protesting loudly a few seconds ago.

Why should the one time he decided to wake up early be spent running around the apartment?

Yoshida-san would be appalled at the amount of mess his new pet was capable of making just at his first morning. Hopefully he could get everything under control before the man found out about this.

Wait. Now that he thought about it, where was Yoshida-san? For all he knew, the older man always woke up very early in the morning. Could he be out?

His musing, as usual, had him end up in a bad situation. More precisely, he slipped as he stepped onto a particularly wet spot on the floor. He yelped as he felt himself fell backwards before his head hit the floor pretty hard. For a second there he was sure he saw some stars flying before his eyes, then something that hasn't happened in 3 months… well, happened.

Images started to flash before his eyes. This time, the images made even less sense than they did before.

Blackboards with numbers on them…

A picture of a chick…

Some weird red shapes…

Doves…

Dog…

Some more weird red shapes…

And…

Mai-chan?


	3. Episode 1, Part 2

k59: so, i finally finished this chapter, after over a month? told you the update will be slow.. oh! n this is brought up from someone, i really did create an lj acc, in case u're wondering it's not me.. thx for reading n enjoy^^~! (hopefully..)

* * *

><p>to SakuraCherryBlossomKokoro : thx^^.. well, i can't say anything about that since it will kinda ruin the story if i do.. so, pls just be patient.. thx for reading:)<p>

to Millenie-hime: exactly! i keep thinking how should i portray them, n really can't make them to be so heartless.. i did check out your lj actually:).. n some others too, thx to my friend who has one n kinda explain to me how it works.. i won't abandon this, don't worry.. as i've said, i know how it feels when u read smtn n then the author just stop writing.. finally! someone caught on that:).. maybe u'll noticed what i'm trying to do after a few chapters.. true, but then sometime there's one that don't hav an acc here, so i decided to answer all reviews here..

* * *

><p>Episode 1 – Part 2 'Falling to Their Place'<p>

xxx

xxx

That was a bad idea. He knew it. That was a very, very bad idea. After all, who in the straight mind would allow their 8 year old daughter to meet a stranger? Especially one that claimed to know her but never been mentioned by the said daughter.

With a heavy sigh, he turned away from the closed door and traced the way back to his own apartment.

He was too impulsive for his own good, now he realized that. It was like this the last time too, investigating his brother's 'death' just because he had a feeling that it was not an accident. And he got more than he bargained for.

Not that he complained about it.

For him, knowing that his brother was alive was good enough. He didn't know – and might never do – why his brother had kept him alive that day in the police station. However, it gave him hope, even if just a small one, that maybe somewhere, deep in his heart, the brother that he knew was still alive.

"But why won't you meet me?" he whispered softly.

His musing was broken by a sound of a carriage being wheeled away quickly. He looked around in alarm as the sound grew louder. He frowned when all he could find was a black car parked a little bit farther away in front of him. Cautiously, he moved closer to the car.

Then, in a blurry of motion, a baby carriage was pushed inside a masked man and the door of the car that had been open was closed forcefully. The next second, a panicked cry of "Igumi!" pierced his ear.

With a sense of dread in his chest, he ran closer to the car just as the driver stepped on the gas. From the same direction the masked man was from, a woman in her late twenties came running, yelling her child's name again and again. He knew what was going on in that instant.

He quickly turned around and, along with the distressed mother, ran after the car. It was hopeless however, as the car's speed was way faster than any of them could run. He stopped trying when the woman beside him fell down and moved to helped her instead.

"Igumi! They have my child! Help me! Please, help me!"

The woman gripped the sleeve of his jacket desperately, continued to beg him for help. He bit his lip and looked around, just as desperate, to find someone, anyone, who could help them. When he found no one, he turned back to the hysterical woman and slowly guided her to the side of the road. Once they were no longer sitting on the middle of the road, he put his hands on her shoulder.

"Calm down, please, ma'am, I need you to calm down."

He managed to say it both gently but still had a hint of urgency in it. The woman calmed down a little, though still sobbing furiously, staring at him with red eyes.

"Okay, that's it. Do you have your handphone with you?"

The woman nodded mutely. After screaming her voice raw for her child, it seemed that she had difficulties to use it now.

"Good. Now, I need you to call your husband about this, and I'll call the police for you, is that okay?"

He watched in sympathy as she rumaged her bag for her cellphone and, after a few seconds, started to retell what had happened a few minutes ago in between her sobs.

Sighing lightly, he reached for his own cell phone. Despite the situation, he had to stare at it for a while, not knowing why Yoshida-san even bother to buy him one and instructed him to have it with him all the time, but grateful for it. He flipped the phone open and pressed 110.

"I am calling to report a kidnapping case."

xxx

Kato Takashi was not in a very good mood. The last three months of his life was hell, almost literally. Thanks to a certain school nurse who pestered him almost every day.

At first it was not that bad, really. At least he could always pull Ohuchi-san in front of him and left him to deal with the school nurse. But then, two months ago, Ohuchi-san was transferred to a different police jurisdiction and, alas, all those whinings and pesterings were all his to endure.

He laid his head onto the table, staring off into space as he let his mind wondered again. Then, just like how moments like this ended, he found himself staring at a certain sketch book that lying at the side of his desk, buried among the messy documents, given by Ohuchi along with a simple request to find its owner.

A sigh escaped his lips before he pulled the sketch book from under the pile. He adjusted his sitting and flipped the book open.

He had seen the drawings hundreds of time, but yet he was never ceased to be amazed at how realistic these pencil drawn pictures looked. That boy really did have a talent. It was too bad that he was caught up in thi–

A sound of telephone ringing reached his ears, abruptly ended his line of thought. His head jerked upwards and he looked around, only to see that he was the only one in the room who wasn't doing any work and that some of his colleagues were now looking at him with a clear message.

_Seriously?_

He sighed and stood up, placing the sketch book on his table before walking to the ringing telephone.

"Tokyo Police Station."

"_I am calling to report a kidnapping case."_

His breath hitched at the familiar voice that he last heard three months ago. He quickly grabbed a pen that was on the table and struggled to open his notepad.

"Okay, can I have the location, who the victim is and the time of the incident?"

"_We are now at the front of Seifu park. The… uhm…"_

There was a muted sound of the caller asking someone a question and he waited anxiously.

"_The victim's name is Hirai Igumi, one year old. The time is… around five minutes ago, so six-fifteen."_

He wrote all the details, ripped the page off and waved it to his colleagues who were now watching him intently. One person approached him and took the paper from him, the others started to move along.

"We are now in our way to your location so please do not go anywhere until our officers arrive there."

"_Okay, thank you."_

Usually, this was where he put the phone back and hurried to catch up with the others and drive to the crime scene. But this time, there was something he needed to make sure first.

"Wait!"

He stopped the person from the other line from hanging up. His current partner poked his head into the room and motioned to him to go quickly. He nodded and gestured to the phone, which seemed to be enough as the other disappeared again behind the door.

"_Yes?"_

The voice answered confusedly and he took a deep breath as an image of a certain boy turning around to face him and Ohuchi-san with a confused expression flashed in his mind.

"Are you Tanaka Ainosuke-kun?"

He could hear that person's breath hitched and all went silent.

_Bingo._

"Ainosuke-kun, do you remember me?"

He was never felt more thankful than right now for the boy's tendency to freeze when something unexpected happen as he had learned from the few times he had to deliver bad news to him. The others would have simply hanged up the phone were they in the boy's shoes.

"_Kato… san…?"_

He could have laughed out loud if the situation was not so serious. Never had he been more thankful for the boy's childish honestly either. Seriously, this boy… Had he not notice that answering his question would have erased any chance for him to deny the previous statement?

Not that he was going to complain. And not that he could help the soft smile that was now grazing his face.

"It's been a while. How are you doing?"

More pause.

"_You…"_

He quirked an eyebrow at the hesitant voice.

"I'm what?"

"_You are not going to ask where have I been?"_

He sighed heavily and raised his hand to rub his temple tiredly.

"Honestly? I am very tempted. But at least now I know that you are fine. You _are_ fine, aren't you?"

Kato could just imagine Ainosuke smiling at his question. The small chuckle that he heard just confirmed his suspicion. Yes, he was sure now that the boy was fine.

"_I am."_

"Good." He hesitated, mind working over what to do, now that he had actually found Ainosuke. Well, not really found, but, the closest to it than he ever been for the past three months. "He really keeps his promise."

"_Promise?"_

His brow furrowed when he heard the confusion once again laced the boy's voice.

"Your… 'kidnapper' left the police a message that day when he took you."

_(flashback)_

_Kato anxiously marched around the police station. He swore he had never felt this worried ever since he got his first case as a police officer. The school nurse beside him didn't make things easier either, kept muttering how she should have kept a better eye on her student._

"_Sayama-sensei I would really appreciate it if you could please! Stop! Mumbling!"_

_The school nurse turned to him sharply and he almost backed away at the fury he saw in her eyes._

"_How can you expect me to be silent? My student was out there! Alone! And I have no idea how he is doing! He could be lying out there somewhere dying for all I know!"_

_To his horror tears started to stream down her cheeks. Still, she spoke to him with fire in her eyes._

"_And you know what worse, Kato-san? You asked me to keep quiet! It was the same as if you told me not to worry! Don't you know that there would be no one in this world that would be worried for him if I stop?"_

_He felt his anger vanished into thin air at the reminder that Ainosuke had lost every single member of his family and was now left on his own._

"_Not true."_

_He watched as the nurse looked at him questioningly._

"_He still got me and Ohuchi-san besides you."_

_Sayama offered him a shaky smile and he returned the gesture, offering and receiving any sort of comfort he could. He was about to say something when someone else beat him to it._

"_Kato-san!"_

_He turned to see one of his colleagues ran to him at full speed before stopping abruptly in front of him._

"_You have to see this!"_

_He shared a look with the school nurse before turning and ran after his colleague. He was led to the investigation room where they kept the laptops and for a moment his eyes wandered around, until he found the writing on the whiteboard and his eyes widened at the sight. There, written in black on white, was a message from the terrorist._

'_This boy will be in my care for a while. Do not worry, for I will not harm him. I will return him to you when I see fit.'_

"_What does this mean, Kato-san?"_

_He looked at his side where Sayama was currently staring at the message in open horror. He gulped and answered shakily, his own eyes were filled with anxiety._

"_This means… that Ainosuke-kun is currently being held captive by the terrorist. And we have absolutely no lead to who and where this terrorist is."_

_(end of flashback)_

Both he and Ainosuke were silent when he finished his tale. Then, to his horror, a sob-like sound was heard from the other side of the phone.

"Ainosuke-kun? Hey, Ainosuke-kun, are you alri–"

His sentence was cut abruptly when the phone connection broke. He stood there dumbly, staring absently at the phone he was clutching in his left hand.

Had he said something wrong? Something that offended him, maybe?

No, he was sure he had not. On the contrary, hadn't he just confessed that he actually cared about the boy?

Letting out a deep frustrated sigh, he put the phone down and ran out of the room, determined to get to the crime scene as soon as he could and get things straight with a certain 15 year old boy.

xxx

"I see you are here again, Yoshida."

Yumeto shifted his attention to the source of the interruption who had came uninvited into his office. He raised an eyebrow at her haughty expression.

"Any particular reason as to why you decided to grace us with your presence this morning, Noriko?"

The said woman smiled mysteriously, ignoring the sarcasm dripping from her leader's voice and seated herself in the unoccupied chair next to the ex-bomber. She casually reached for one of the documents on Yumeto's desk and started to flip through it.

"I just want to report that your instruction has been carried out. We got the baby."

His eyebrow went even higher.

"And you deemed it important enough for you to tell me that face to face?"

The gunslinger threw the document back to the desk and leaned back to her chair.

"Maybe not. But those people in the team came back to me with a very interesting report."

"Interesting report?"

She nodded, smiling slightly, and Yumeto couldn't help but wonder what had happened to make her in such a good mood. His eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

"He said that when they were wheeling the baby into the car, there was a boy walking nearby."

A sense of dread filled Yumeto's heart as the word boy reached his ears. It couldn't be.

"They said it was a boy around fifteen with a rather long dark brown hair and eyes. He was thin and a little short. Ah! And one of them added that he was cute."

Yumeto's heart was beating so hard that he almost could hear it thumping in his chest. Still, he forced his face to look bored and impassive.

"And? I still don't see how this is so important."

Noriko frowned at the crime planner's indifference about this matter and Yumeto was more than glad to see this. Anything to get her attention off his brother.

She was about to answer him when Yoshida spoke.

"Well, I guess this is time for me to leave. You can continue your discussion. I'll just go back to my apartment. Noriko-san. Yumeto-san."

Yumeto looked at the older man and saw him giving him a significant look. To him, the message was clear.

_I'll check on your brother._

Yumeto nodded mutely, gratitude shining in his eyes. He knew that the older got his message as he smiled a little and, with a nod of head, stepped out of the room.

"That boy is your little brother, isn't he?"

He slowly turned his attention back to the frowning woman in front of him.

"I told you we should have killed him that day. Now he's out there somewhere, free to shout to anyone about your identity."

"There is no evidence that it was indeed him. Many boys could fit in to that description. And I told you I know what I'm doing. Him being alive is a crucial point to my plan and for that, I can't afford to get him killed. You just have to take my word for it. This discussion is over."

Yumeto sighed in relief mentally when he saw that she relented, although unhappy. He then pulled his stance to be what is expected from a genius crime planner: bored expression on his face, a small smirk playing on his lips, eyes shining with confidence.

"Speaking of my plan, how is your meeting with that woman going?"


	4. Episode 1, Part 3

k59: Ryo-chan is going to play new drama, 'Risou no Musuko'! yay! finally! i am so looking forward to it^^~! btw, can u give me ur opinions? r the chapters too long? well, that aside, enjoy^^~

* * *

><p>to Millenia-hime : again, thx for the correction:).. i don't know why, but i always got the impression of childish kind of honesty from Ryo-chan^^.. thx for being patient with me..<p>

* * *

><p>Episode 1 – Part 3 'Setback and Confusion'<p>

xxx

xxx

Yoshida stared at the silent and absolutely miserable bundle that was currently lying curled up beside him on the bed that he was sitting on. His eyes were both sad and confused.

He was fairly sure that, only yesterday, the teen was still laughing happily. Chattering non-stop during dinner about how fun the day was. That new pet of his was no better. Running around the apartment and barking every so often.

Speaking of the pet…

He looked at down at the fox like dog who seemed to be affected by its owner mood. When the both of them came back, Rin had whined sadly, ears flat against his head and tail limp behind it. It had tottered silently at Ainosuke's legs as the boy walked spiritlessly to his room, occasionally nuzzled its head against the boy's legs. It was now lying on the bed, curled up next to its owner, seemingly content to stay there as long as Ainosuke did, whining softly. Loyal to the end.

His attention shifted back to the boy who had his back to him, not even bother to change his clothes. What had happened to make him act like this again?

Sighing heavily, knowing that no matter what he said he was not going to get anything from him, he grabbed a blanket and then proceeded to tuck him in. His worry spiked up dangerously when Ainosuke made no move to stop him. The boy just laid there, seemingly unaware of his surroundings, silent tears cascading down his cheeks.

Helplessness filled his heart and he rested his hand on top of the messy hair for a while before standing up and withdrawing his hand.

"I'll be in the living room if you need me."

No answer. Not that he expected one. He turned around and walked out of the room. At the door though, he looked back the unmoving lump on the bed worriedly one last time before closing the door. He had a phone call to make.

xxx

Sayama Hitomi was utterly confused.

She had been walking to her friend's, Kato, office when said friend turned up the corner. She had raised her hand to wave at him, only to have it seized and then she was dragged away. When she asked – well, it was more like yelled, but, hey, she was annoyed – demanding to know where he was dragging her to, he had only said one word. Yet, that one word had succeeded in shutting her up and made her followed him without any qualms.

The other police officers had sent her odd look when she crashed in the police car, but none of them voiced out their opinion. They had seen her often enough during these three months that they're used to her presence. But none of these things really registered in her mind. She was too eager and worried about what was awaiting her – them – in the crime scene to care about them.

Yet, now she stood awkwardly, commoner in the midst of police officers and victims, knew absolutely nothing to do, and most importantly, with no Ainosuke in sight. One person though, looked as restless as she was.

"I don't see him anywhere, Kato-san."

The police officer beside her shook his head, bewildered.

"Me neither. But he was here."

She turned to stare at him, silently urging him to elaborate further. He silently handed her a drawing book. She raised an eyebrow at him – which was answered by gesture for her to open it – flipped the cover page, and had to bite back a gasp.

There, drawn in children crayon, was a picture of masked men. She traced her fingers through the lines, basking in the familiarity of the strokes that made up the picture. Wordlessly, she flipped through the book. The next page pictured a car, then a cartoon chick, a dog, doves, then number 10 20 30 each in a box. The last page though, was what grabbed her attention the most.

"You are intrigued by this one too?"

She looked up to see Kato watching her then shifted his gaze to the drawing book. He then pointed at the writing at the bottom of the drawing, asking her to do the same. Her eyebrows furrowed when she read the writing there.

'Sano Mai'

Then at the bottom left corner of the page, written in a slightly smaller handwriting was 'Kato-san, please protect her.'

"This is…"

She trailed off as she turned her head to stare questioningly at her friend. Kato sighed and put his hands in his pockets, eyes staring ahead.

"An evident. As the pictures are drawn by a witness, I am obliged to submit and report it to the chief police officer in charge of this kidnapping case."

The school nurse nodded in understanding.

"What did the other witnesses say about him?"

"Nothing much," he answered as he started to walk away. She quickly fell in step with him as they approached the other police officers who were trying to console the dejected parents. He elaborated for her.

"Only the wife saw him. From what she said, a boy helped her to call the police while she called her husband. The boy in question then asked if she had a paper and pencil. She gave him her child's drawing book and set of crayons. Just after this boy finished the drawing, a man came and fetched him away, only seconds before her husband came."

She looked at Kato's face. He was frowning while staring at the young parents. She knew that he had something on his mind that had not been answered by the crying mother's testimony.

"What is it, Kato-san?"

"Remember when I said I told Ainosuke-kun what happened that day he was kidnapped?"

She nodded wearily, sensing her friend's confusion.

"I was quite sure that he cried then."

"Huh?"

Kato sighed and ran his hand through his hair. A gesture that she had come to notice as a frustrated gesture.

"Just before he closed the connection, I swear I heard a sob-like sound from him. But when I asked the wife, she said she didn't notice anything wrong with the boy."

Sayama shook her head in exasperation. Really, sometimes Kato can be very unreasonable and dense. She put her hand on his shoulder and regarded him sternly.

"Kato-san, you honestly think she would notice those things when her child had just been taken away from her like that?"

He blinked at her, dumbfounded, and she had to resist the urge to smack him hard on his head. He then shook his head at her.

"Anyway, I am in so much trouble here."

She raised her eyebrow at him, dropping her hand back to her side.

"Why is that?"

He gestured to the drawing book she still clutched in her hand.

"Ainosuke-kun wrote my name in there. Now I am sure that whoever it is who will be in charge for this case will breathe down my neck to get an answer."

Sayama sighed tiredly, rubbing her arm, trying to warm herself up against the cold January wind.

"Then, I suggest you should just tell that person the truth. That is the best that we can do, isn't it? We can use some ally here as well."

She moved her gaze to Kato at the end of her question and found him frowning at nothing in particular. He then shook his head and proceeded to take the drawing book away from the school nurse.

"I hope it is that simple," he said as he walked away towards the patrol car.

xxx

_I'm in a deep trouble,_ was what gone through Kato's mind at the moment.

He knew the second he saw detective Fukuchi walked into the conference room that he was in for a very difficult time later. And that time was now.

After all officers finished their report and they were dismissed, detective Fukuchi had called him and asked him to stay back for a while. So, now he was standing in front of the desk while detective Fukuchi packed the documents and put them into his briefcase.

"Do you know there is one particular cell in our prison that has the maximum security available?"

Kato raised an eyebrow at the seemingly random question as it pulled him out of his self-pitying session. But, knowing how great of a detective this man was, somehow, he knew that whatever the detective had in mind right now definitely had a connection to the kidnapping case in a way or another.

"I've heard of it," he answered cautiously.

"Do you happen to hear who is in it as well?" The older man asked again, his eyes still transfixed on the task of packing the documents.

"Honestly, sir? No."

He watched in silent as the older man clasped his briefcase close and looked up to look at him, face set in an expressionless mask.

"The fake terrorist case three months ago, the one you and your previous partner – Ohuchi Kenjo, am I right? – were in charge of, do you remember about it?"

Kato's eyebrow rose even higher at the sudden change in – seemingly unrelated – topic. Still, otherwise, he kept his face impassive although inside he was scowling fiercely at his superior officer.

_Let me think… Wasn't it the day Ainosuke-kun got kidnapped? Right here in this police station! Of course I remember!_

Outside though, he nodded and said, "As clear as if it happened yesterday."

Detective Fukuchi mimicked his gesture and asked one last question, "Do you know who was behind the whole thing?"

Kato sighed tiredly. He was feeling like a criminal being interrogated like this.

"I heard things," he looked up to look at his superior officer on the eye, "From what I gathered, it was a criminal organization led by someone called the crime planner."

"That is who we had in our most secured cell. The former, before the current one overthrew this one."

"What?"

"That is who–"

"Yes, I heard you," he cut Fukuchi's statement, feeling annoyed and surprised at the same time. "Why are you telling me this?"

The older detective sighed and took a seat, gesturing to him to do the same. He complied, albeit warily, dragging a chair so the he could sit at the other side of the desk, right across his superior officer.

"The boy who was taken three months ago," the older started and he felt himself tensed at the choice of topic, "I was told that you are one of a few people who last seen him before he was kidnapped."

He nodded silently although that was more of a statement rather than a question. If it was even possible, his body stature was ever tenser than before.

"This same boy, from what I heard, also knew where the next attack will be before that attack happened. If I was the crime planner it is only right for me to take him away too. If possible silence him forever."

His eyes widened at the older statement and he opened his mouth to protest. However, before he could get a sound out, detective Fukuchi had beaten him to it.

"But this boy is still alive."

He promptly closed his mouth as Fukuchi stared at him with piercing eyes.

"And now, you reported that this same boy had called the police to report a kidnapping case and left us hints before disappearing once again."

He could only watch as Fukuchi leaned back into his chair, too tensed to do the same.

"I seriously cannot think of any possible explanation for this. So, I gave that laptop you managed to protect three months ago to the crime planner inside that cell. If someone could unlock it, I figured that one who was in the same position would have the best shot."

"Is that save?" He asked, realizing how dangerous the stunt that his commanding officer had taken.

"Not entirely, but quite," Fukuchi sat straight back, "There's one thing I know for sure though. This whole incident rotates around this boy we're talking about. We need to find him"

Kato gulped when his superior officer looked at him sternly.

"Tanaka Ainosuke is the key to solve these cases."

xxx

Yumeto opened the door, making sure that it didn't creak. Turning back, he caught sight of the older man smirking knowingly at him and he had to scowl. He made a shooing gesture with his hand and, not wanting to irritate the worried older brother more, Yoshida complied, pulling the door closed with a soft click.

The crime planner turned his gaze to the dark room he was inside of now. The curtain was not drawn and his eyes could, with some squinting, see that distinct outline of the interior of the room. His baby brother's room.

He sighed heavily.

He certainly was getting soft. Coming here just because Yoshida said Ainosuke looked down after the whole kidnapping incident.

Well, it was not 'just because' reason, but one would expect something colder from a crime planner. It was something perfectly understandable, though, for a big brother to do. And now, he acted as Ainosuke's older brother and not a crime planner. Even if he could only do this when his little brother was asleep.

Only when Ainosuke was asleep did he allow himself to offer some kind of support for his little brother. However small that support may be.

His bare feet made no sound against the cold floor as he padded across the room, around the bed to stand in front of his slumbering brother. The moonlight that came from the window was just enough for him to have a good look at his brother's face – his brother's tear-stained face – and felt his heart broke.

_(flashback)_

_He waited impatiently in front of an apartment door, his unconscious brother in his arms, looking small and fragile. Letting out a frustrated growl, he kicked the door none-too-softly again a few times._

"_Come on Yoshida, open the door!"_

_A frantic sound from inside can be heard and, finally, the door opened, revealing a disgruntled Yoshida. The older man looked annoyed for a while before the look on his face was replaced to surprise then, when he got a good look the boy in his leader arms, alarm._

_Yumeto pushed his way in and made his way to the spare bedroom he knew was inside the apartment. Knowing the older was right behind him, he pushed the door open and quickly made his way to the bed, lowering his brother onto it gently._

"_Yumeto-san, he is…?"_

_He turned to face the ex-bomber, face as serious as he had ever been._

"_Yoshida, will you follow me?"_

_A stunned look passed on Yoshida's face for a blink of an eye before the older regained his composure._

"_Of course."_

"_Even if it is against the organization's rule?"_

"_Yes," was said firmly, without hesitation._

_Pleased with the older man's answer, he allowed a ghost of smile decorated his face._

"_Then, do me a favor."_

"_Anything."_

_He turned to his little brother, slowly lowering himself to sit on the mattress. He reached out a hand to caress his brother's hair, eyes full of sadness and pain._

"_Please look after my little brother."_

_(end of flashback)_

Copying what he had done before, he sat on the bed silently, hand reaching out to stroke his brother's hair gently.

"I am so sorry, Ainosuke. Just… hang in there, alright? Please don't break down on me like this."

His words came out as whisper, loud enough in the silence of the night room. He sat there for minutes, wanting but unwilling to leave his little brother's side once he was there. Finally, he sighed and withdrew his hand before standing up.

He looked down on his brother and, allowing a small smile to break through his emotionless façade, leaned down to press a kiss on his brother's forehead, murmuring his last message.

"I'm so sorry."

Straightening himself, he watched his brother for a second longer before turning around and walked out of the room.

Once the sound of the door being closed was heard, the boy on the bed opened his eyes. His grip on the bed sheet tightened and he made a small sob before burying his face onto his pillow.


	5. Episode 1, Part 4

k59: this finished quite fast, in my opinion.. don't u think so? while writing this, another crazy idea came to my mind n i was like 'I am soooo doomed!'.. but maybe i'll make it a one-shot.. maybe.. so don't expect anything.. enough of that.. thx for reading n enjoy^^~

* * *

><p>to Milennia-hime: as i've said, u can just comment on 1.. really (^_^;).. now i'm confused as what I should reply to u.. except, thx for putting up with me n my late updates^^~<p>

to SakuraCherryBlossomKokoro : thank u so much..i'll do my best to updates, so pls be patient^^.. ths for reading n commenting :D

* * *

><p>Episode 1 – Part 4 'Missing in Action'<p>

xxx

Xxx

Kato slid down onto a chair tiredly, a canned coffee clutched tightly in his hands. Letting out a big sigh, he let his mind wander.

The kidnapper had worked unbelievingly fast. Just this late morning, the ransom call was made and by mid afternoon, it was paid. Then, this early evening, the distraught parents had their child back.

Fast. Simple. Efficient. Though, the kidnappers were not caught.

If only the case with Ainosuke-kun was also that fast…

Well, he could hope.

He took a sip from his canned coffee and slumped to his seat some more. He was so tired. And not just because of today's events. Yet, it felt like there was something else he needed to do. The kind of feeling that continued to nag at the back of your head until you do it.

Sano Mai. He needed to check on her. Not meet her personally, it would have been weird since there was nothing he could base this from except for a drawing of her by an anonymous witness. If anything, it would freak the child and her parents out.

No, they didn't need that.

Finishing his canned coffee, the police officer stood up and started walking away from the chair and out of the police station.

Time to go home.

And tomorrow, perhaps, he will do what Ainosuke-kun had wanted him to.

xxx

"Ouch! That hurts!" the boy hissed to himself.

He had woken up to the pitter-patter sound of water hitting the ground, as if sensing his mood and crying for him. The sun was hiding itself fully behind the dark clouds. Only the blinking light at his nightstand could be any indicator of the time of the day. Which, after some calculating, indicated to him that he had stayed in bed for 6 hours… plus 24 hours.

Remembering what happened yesterday night, he had deliberately curled up, buried his face on his pillow and pulled the blanket closer to himself.

That had succeeded for about 5 seconds.

Apparently, Rin had decided that its master had spent far too much time in bed and whined to him insistently while biting and pulling his blanket. Only his conscience kept him from wailing in his own roller coaster of feelings. He had a pet. Even if he didn't feeling like eating, he at least needed to feed Rin.

So, reluctantly, he had risen from the bed. Taking some time to rub his eyes, he had slowly taking step out and down the bed.

And promptly had felt the need to flail his arms around as his vision zoomed in extremely fast to the floor. Obviously, he had not noticed that the foot he had tried to put on the floor was tangled in his blanket because of Rin's incessant pullings.

Hence, the headache that he had now.

Ainosuke blinked as he laid on his side, trying to clear his vision which was stubbornly keep flashing brilliant white. With a jolt, he realized that his left eye was showing him something.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, images flashed in front of his eyes. He noticed that most of the images were mostly the same as before, except two, no, three of them.

His own problem immediately forgotten, he scrambled to his feet. He could feel his heart beating furiously in his ribcage as he looked around for his cell phone in panic. His heart dropped when he realized that it was with Yoshida-san, the older man having taking it after his little stunt yesterday.

He felt prickles behind his eyes and blinked repeatedly, mentally berating himself that there was no use crying over this. He looked over to his window, eyes gazing at the rain with a lost expression on his face, which quickly dissolved into determination. Hurriedly, he turned over to his bed and arranged his pillows and blanket to look as if he was still cocooned in the blanket.

As if sensing and knowing that its master was going to do another thing that was even more reckless than yesterday, Rin started whining. The boy looked down to his pet and his face softened a bit.

Walking, then dropping on his knees in front of his pet, he drew it into an embrace.

"I'm sorry, Rin. I need to do this. Someone I know is in a grave danger," he put the dog down, hands still tangled in its fur, making it looked at his face. "I need you to cover for me, okay? I'll be back soon. Wish me luck."

Eyes full with sadness and fear, Ainosuke stood up and walked out of his room, after listening to make sure that Yoshida-san was not around his room. With a soft click, he disappeared behind the door.

Behind him, Rin was whining softly with his ears flat on his head.

xxx

This time, when the phone rang, Kato immediately ran for it. His heart beating fast, expecting, hoping, praying that it would be Ainosuke-kun again who called. But it seemed that a miracle did not happen twice, for it was the voice of a distressed and scared mother who greeted him.

Pushing his disappointment aside, he quickly asked for the details as he once again beckoned for his colleagues. However, he froze when he heard the name of the victim.

He mechanically told the crying mother that they would be there shortly and ran to the car alongside his colleagues.

"Kato-san, what's wrong?"

He turned to his partner who was now buckling his seatbelt and, realizing that he had forgotten to do so, quickly fastened his own.

"I'm late."

"For what? Your date with that school nurse?"

He threw his partner an irritated glare, which the man pointedly ignored and grinned at.

"For the last time, she is _not_ my girlfriend!"

"Okay, fine, I get it! No need to get so defensive."

Kato scowled as his partner started the engine and drove away. This man, he did not even know half the things he was worried himself sick about. He liked dense and simple-minded Ohuchi-san better.

"So, what were you talking about? You're late to what?"

His heart clenched at the reminder of his inability to respond to the clue Ainosuke-kun had given him fast enough. He had failed the boy. He sighed dejectedly.

"I was too slow. I might safe a family from such anguish if I was quick enough. Now, it's too late."

xxx

Ainosuke was gasping for breath. His hand was grasping the pillar in front of the police station while the other was clutching the jeans he was wearing on the knee, now soaked with water. The sound of dying rain was playing behind him, telling him that the sun would be coming out soon.

He felt something warm and fluffy dropped gently onto his shoulders and jumped in surprise. Looking up, he was met with a pair of concerned eyes belonged to a female police officer.

"Are you okay? Are you lost?"

She asked him anxiously as she wrapped the towel tighter around him. Behind her, he could see some other police officers staring at them curiously.

He knew he must have looked quite pitiful. A teenager suddenly turned up in the police station, soaked wet and gasping for breath. Anyone would immediately assume that something bad had just happened to him. But it was not him who was in trouble. Well, not yet anyway.

First, though, he needed to regain control of his breath to be able to speak.

"I need to speak to Kato-san. Immediately. Please."

He asked her with a pleading expression plastered on his face. The woman looked at him regretfully and he felt his heart fell even before she answered him.

"Kato-san had just gone out. He was called on duty somewhere. But, you are welcome to stay here while waiting for him to come back. We can find you a set of dry clothes too."

His heart was gripped with fear.

"Where?"

He managed to ask her weakly, dreading the answer. But she only shook her head slowly.

"I don't know. We are not exactly in the same division."

Without another word, he unwrapped himself from the towel and pushed it back into the kind woman's hand. He gave her a small smile as he did so.

"Thank you, but I really need to go. I'm sorry for interrupting. Please, excuse me."

With that, he bowed slightly, turned around and, in a blink of an eye, had ran under the rain once again, ignoring the shout that was calling for him to come back.

xxx

Detective Fukuchi stared at the scene that was unfolding before his eyes. He was in his way back to his office from Kokusho Akira's cell when he saw his subordinate wrapping a towel around a boy. Slowly, he walked to them, eyes never leaving the pair, ignoring the other police officers who walked out of his way once they saw him approaching.

Then, suddenly the boy unwrapped the towel from his body and pressed it to his subordinate's hands. He was almost at the front door when the boy gave a small bow and ran out of the building.

Eyes never leaving the retreating figure, he approached the stunned woman.

"Who was that boy?"

The called woman spun around to face him with a surprised yelp, very nearly dropping the now soaked towel.

"Fukuchi-san!"

He raised his eyebrow and waited impatiently for the answer.

"I don't know, sir. He just suddenly came here, out of breath and soaked to the bone. He asked for Kato-san and when I said he was not in, he simply thanked me and went on his way again."

The senior police officer widened his eyes. There was only one boy whom he knew about who would be looking for Kato. Turning his attention to the direction where the boy had gone into, He frowned when he could see nothing except the slight rain that was dying and some cars passing by.

"Get back to your duty. All of you!"

He said sternly before averting his gaze. He could hear shuffling behind him and saw at the corner of his eyes when his subordinate walked into the building. Letting his sight lingered on the road for a few more seconds, he turned around and get back to his duty with a pang of disappointment in his heart. If only he was a little bit faster…

He had let Tanaka Ainosuke slipped away when the kid had been so close.

xxx

The sky was now, thankfully, clear. There was not even a single could on sight. It was hard to believe that only an hour ago, it was raining heavily. The only prove that it had been raining were the puddles of water that made a wet splash sound whenever his feet landed in them as he ran.

Stopping and leaning cautiously at the lamppost nearby, his gaze fell on the familiar neighborhood and his eyes caught sight of a few doves flying out a window. His eyes widened as he remembered the doves that he saw through his left eye. Just as he was about to push himself away, a few men were running out of the apartment. His eyes widened when he saw Kato-san among them.

He opened his mouth to call out to him, but he was never gone that far. A tingling sensation on his left eye distracted him and he gasp in surprise. His hand flew to his left eye and he could only watch as the policemen ran out of his sight. He sighed, dejected. Seemed like he was not able to talk to Kato-san after all.

Ainosuke eyed the lamp post warily and decided that it would not do that he had come this far for nothing. Ignoring the consequences that he would face later, he banged his head onto the metal pole.

Groaning in pain in his head, he slid down and knelt on the ground, ignoring the water and the dirt. He pressed his fore head to the cold metal in attempt to ease his pounding head and stayed still as, once again, images flashed in front of his eyes.

There was only one new image that he saw, the rest were from the previous visions that he had. And he was as clueless now as the first time he had them.

His hands scrambling about for something he could hold on to as he pushed himself to his feet.

"You…"

His head snapped up at the somewhat familiar voice. Mai-chan's mother was currently staring at him from the gate to the apartment with her eyes puffy because of all the crying she must had done for the past few hours. He stood up straighter as the woman crossed the road and approached him in haste.

He was about to say something when she beat him to it. Her hands gripped his arms tightly and he had to wince at the bruising grip she had on him.

"You came yesterday too. You knew something, right? Please! Please, return Mai to me! I beg of you! Please, return her to me!"

Ainosuke bit his lip unconsciously as he thought over what he should say now. He could help, he just didn't know how to tell it to the anxious mother without looking like the kidnapper. He sighed deeply.

_Well, here goes nothing._

"I'm here to help."

The woman stopped begging him and looked up to stare at him, stunned.

"I can help. I can't explain anything, but… Just… Can you lend me some paper and pencil?"

His knees almost went weak with relief when the mother wiped her tears and nodded without asking anything. She stuttered something about having some papers in her house and started leading him back to the apartment.

As he was following her, he realized that he had been shivering lightly and that his jacket had been no help against the cold in its soaked condition. Rubbing his hands against his arms for warmth, his mind wandered back to what Kato-san had said to him, last night incident and the images he had seen through his left eye.

"_What are planning now, big brother?"_

xxx

The sun was setting at the west, quickly disappearing behind numerous building. The sky in the opposite direction was already turning a dark blue coloration, gracefully dissolving to violet and finally scarlet, then fused with the bright yellow colored circle.

Yet, the boy who was now opening an apartment door cautiously had no time to admire this all. Ainosuke stepped through the front door of the apartment that he lived in and, as quietly as he could, closed the door behind him.

He quickly stepped out of his shoes and took them in his hand, tiptoeing through the living room and the outside of the kitchen.

He breathed an inaudible sigh as he saw Yoshida-san san preparing dinner in the kitchen whilst whistling softly to himself. Turning away from the scene in front of him, he continued to tiptoe to his room, tad a bit quicker than before now that he was confident he was not going to get caught.

It was just as he closed the door to his room when he sneezed, rather loudly, if he might add. And before he could do anything else, he was tackled to the ground by an over-enthusiastic fox-like dog.

He laughed softly and wrapped his arms around his pet.

"Nice to meet you too, Rin. I see that you did what I asked you to wonderfully."

The boy let out a chuckle when Rin let out a bark and then snuggled close to him. His eyes wandered around the room that he now called his own. He still remembered vividly the first time he woke up in this room.

_(flashback)_

_There was a pounding in his head and he felt like he had gone running for hours. He felt drained. And the soft mattress he was laying on top of was far too comfortable for him to want to move out of._

_All he wanted was just to stay there for the rest of his life. He didn't care if his brother…_

_His eyes snapped open as his mind finally caught up with reality. _

_He sat up quickly and groaned when he felt pain in the back of his neck. His mouth let out a small whimper as he wrapped his arms around himself and looked around the room he was in._

_It was a plain and simple decorated room. Aside from the queen sized bed he was currently sitting in, there were night stands at its either side. There was a wardrobe on the wall facing him to his left side and the door was beside his bed, on the right side. Directly in front of him was a desk with a big window – he could see the sight of the city at night through it – right in front of it, at its right side was a bookshelf which was mostly empty. There was another door next to the wardrobe and then another bookshelf – which was fuller than the other – right next to the door._

_He took in all that in confuse. The last thing he remembered was surrendering himself to his older brother, allowing and asking his brother to kill him. Then, a pain on the back of his neck and he knew nothing afterwards._

_His big brother had made it clear to him that the older had nothing to do with him anymore. Feeling alone and heartbroken, he had wanted to die. So when his brother – his dear, beloved, older brother – had said that he could easily kill him, he had made his decision and offered his life._

_So, why? _

_Why had his brother let him live?_

_A sob escaped his lips and he drew his legs closer to his body, hugging them close to his chest. Burying his face on his knees, he let out his pent up emotions and cried brokenly._

_(end of flashback)_

His musing ended abruptly as he felt a lick on his face. He snapped his attention to Rin as the dog whined softly. He chuckled and wiped the tears that had started gathering in his eyes. Scratching the dog behind its ear, he stood up and took his pet into his arms.

He pulled his pillows from under the blanket and put the dog on his bed. He rubbed its head and smiled softly.

"Thank you. Let me take a quick shower, then I'll take you down for meal. I think I've deprived us both of food long enough, don't you think?"

Rin let out a cheerful bark and he smiled wider. He opened his wardrobe – now filled with clothes – and took some clothes and headed to the bathroom, fully intending to put his head under the shower for a few minutes to ease his pounding head.


	6. Episode 1, Part 5

k59 : i'm going for a holiday^^~! finally everyone in my family are free so we can all go.. so, b4 I go, i thought i should post this first.. things r gonna get rather difficult from here, seeing that even i am confused.. i've decided on what's going to happen, but now i'm not so sure anymore.. anyway, hope u'll enjoy this^^~

* * *

><p>to Milennia-hime : it's okay.. truthfully, i'm flattered that you made time to comment on both.. well, i'm going to post it after this, so.. I hope u'll like it^^.. about that, I might change the ending of episode 1 (^_^;).. since I can't really make it the same as in the drama.. i don't have a beta reader, so if u see any mistake in grammar or anything, it was purely my mistake (^_^;)..<p>

to abc31 : i am so very glad that you like this.. i'll do my best to keep up w ur expectation, though I can't promise anything else other than that.. thank u for reading n commenting^^~

* * *

><p>Episode 1 – Part 5 'A Turning Point'<p>

xxx

xxx

Yoshida eyed the boy who was seated in front of him – across the table – with critical eyes. Ainosuke-kun's cheeks were flushed slightly and though he could say that it was simply because the boy had taken shower in hot water, he knew that this wasn't the case.

The boy was developing a fever.

And from experience, he knew how handful this particular boy was when he had one.

Or maybe not.

After all, the last time Ainosuke-kun had a fever, the boy had some other, more serious issue as well. To be precise, his apparent lack of will to live.

But then, he thought as he chewed on his yakisoba, Ainosuke-kun had stayed in bed for more than a day. He had been afraid that the boy wouldn't come for dinner, though he had hope. But Ainosuke-kun did turn up for dinner.

Although, it was more like playing with his food rather than eating.

He sighed heavily and frowned when he saw the boy tensed. Rin was growling at him from its place next to its master's feet, as if blaming him for Ainosuke-kun's discomfort. He scowled fiercely at the dog, still had not forgiven it for barking nonstop and baring its teeth the one time he tried to get into Ainosuke-kun's room to coax him out.

Throwing one last reprimanding look at the dog, he settled back and continued to eat – as well as keeping an eye to the quiet boy in front of him – in silence.

Judging by Ainosuke-kun's behavior, he was going to have to talk to him what had upset him while nursing him back to health. It was not an easy task. But, perhaps, it would be easier than his first quest.

Hopefully.

_(flashback)_

_Yoshida frowned when he heard an unmistakable sound of someone crying. For a moment, chills ran down his spine as his mind replayed some scenes from many horror movies he had watched. But then he remembered about the boy that his leader had brought in a few hours ago._

_No. Not just a boy. That boy was his leader's little brother. That alone was enough of a reason for him to treat the boy differently. Friendlier._

_However, the moment he saw the boy's tear-stained face, his heart clenched painfully in his chest._

_Scratch that reason. He just wanted to erase all traces of pain – hurt, self-loathing, heart-broken, and many more, really – from those tears filled, expressive brown eyes that reminded him so much of the boy's brother._

_He wanted, really badly, to throw his arms around the small, shaking body. To comfort and calm him. But he stopped dead in his track when the boy on the bed gave a terrified cry and scooted away from his approaching figure._

_He ruthlessly pushed down the urge to walk out and call Yumeto-san and tell him about the state his little brother was in, and demanded that he came back here this instant. He clenched his fists instead._

_The boy was scared. Utterly scared and horribly confused._

_After all, from what Yumeto-san had told him, this crying boy had just found out that his older brother was not dead and was a crime planner. This boy had accepted it when Yumeto-san said he could kill him, telling him – and he knew Yumeto-san had realized this too – just how weak his will to live right now._

_It only made sense that this boy – no, he had to stop calling him that – Ainosuke-kun would be terrified when he woke up, still alive, in an unfamiliar room and suddenly an unfamiliar man came to him._

_What was he thinking? Barging in like that, seriously._

"_I don't mean any harm." _

_He tried to step closer to the boy, and once again, the boy cried out in terror and scooted even farther away from him. Seeing that the boy was already at the edge of his bed, he dared not to try another attempt to get closer to him._

"_Okay, I won't move. I'll stay here, alright? No need to be scared."_

_He tried to get the boy to calm down, but apparently it did little to the almost hyperventilating boy. Seeing that Ainosuke-kun continued to look at him with horror shining brightly in his wide eyes, he thought furiously on how he should approach this skittish boy._

_He decided on a very common one when first meeting people._

_He took a very deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to school his emotions. Letting a friendly smile broke through his face, he unclenched his fists._

"_I know you don't know me, but you can trust me. My name is Yoshida Ichiro. Your brother had trusted your safety to me, Ainosuke-kun."_

_At the mention of his brother, finally something other than hurt, confusion and terror sparked in the boy's eyes. Hope. However small and brief it was._

_Tears were still rolling down flushed cheeks, the person himself making no effort to stop them. Yoshida watched on as the boy seemed to withdraw into himself further. He couldn't allow that to happen. He wouldn't._

"_Yumeto-san told me what happened."_

_He took a cautious step ahead and was relief when the boy did not scrambled back again. Confident that he had the boy's undivided attention, he slowly made his way to the bed._

"_He was very worried, you know. He didn't think that you would react the way you do."_

_The boy – Ainosuke-kun, he mentally whacked himself – did nothing to acknowledge this. He just continued to sit there, staring at him with tears still streaming down his cheeks. He was getting really worried. He never dealt with children before, even less one who was experiencing a trauma. Now, what was he going to do?_

_He looked helplessly at Ainosuke-kun, wracking his brain for something, anything that would help him to get this boy talk._

_Finally, after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence – with him thinking and Ainosuke-kun watching him with wariness in his eyes, still crying – his eyes brightened. How could he forget about that?_

_He lowered himself onto the bed, pleased when Ainosuke-kun made no movement to get away from him. He raised his right hand and pulled down his middle and ring finger, leaving his thumb, point and little finger straight._

"'_Daijoubu.'"_

_He saw Ainosuke-kun widened at this and continued._

"'_Everything will be alright.'"_

_He then lowered his hand, all too aware that Ainosuke-kun's gaze seemed to be glued to it. _

"_Your brother wanted me to relay this message to you."_

_Then, to his horror, the boy started to cry anew. Big, fat drop of tears falling continuously from his eyes._

_What had he done wrong? _

_He was mentally scolding himself when a pair of chocolate brown eyes finally rose to meet his. He swallowed at the amount of hope that he could see shining in those crying eyes. _

_He had succeeded to put the hope there. Now, he wished that he could make this boy smile again._

_(end of flashback)_

He sighed heavily. It was as if they were back to square one. Ainosuke-kun was hiding something from him and whatever it was, it was making the boy upset.

Well, he was not going to allow that to happen. He was going to know what was it that started this all.

"I'm done. Thank you for the food."

He looked up, startled, just in time to see Ainosuke-kun brought his almost untouched food to the kitchen counter. He quickly got up and grabbed the boy's arm, preventing him from walking away and locked himself up in his room again.

Ainosuke-ku turned around to face him and he used that opportunity to put the back of his hand on the boy's forehead. As he had thought, it was a bit warm.

"You're having fever. Go up and get some rest. I'll bring your medicine in a bit."

When the boy did not object and just nodded his head before heading to his room, he knew that this was more serious than he thought.

xxx

"Then, there was no other phone calls from the kidnapper after you got back to the victim's house?"

Kato shook his head, negative.

"No, sir. We stayed with the victim's mother and one of us is still there at the moment. In case the kidnapper called."

"Nothing else happened?"

"No, sir."

"The mother never told you what happened when you were out? Nothing at all?"

Kato frowned at the questions that his superior officer bombarded him with. It was not like Detective Fukuchi at all to be so curious with a case. He would normally nod when receiving reports and then dismissed them as soon as they were done. What had happened?

"No. She was too distraught to say anything."

Detective Fukushi hummed at that and rested his chin on his hands. Kato's frown was getting deeper at that. Now, he was sure something must have happened.

"Fukuchi-san? Did you get any lead to this kidnapping case?"

The man shook his head and stood up, "Not quite. I was hoping that _you_ will get some lead to this _serial_ kidnapping."

He blinked continuously at that particular piece of information.

"How do you know this is a serial kidnapping?"

"Actually, it was thanks to that picture you brought that I realize that. The numbers with boxes, it meant square. This kidnapping case is the second out of three."

He stared at his superior officer, not quite believing his ears.

"You mean, the one that Ainosuke-kun drew?"

The older nodded, "That's why I thought that you would have another picture with you right now. Or maybe the boy himself."

"I didn't see him today, Fukuchi-san."

"But I did," the older shifted his stern gaze to him. "He came here this afternoon, looking for you."

To say that he was stunned was an understatement. He had not thought that Ainosuke-kun would be coming to the police station, seeing that he was supposed to be kidnapped.

But, honestly, ever since he met that boy, his life was never quite so normal anymore.

"And you just let him go?"

In other time, he would have never got away with using that kind of tone to his superior. Just for this moment though, he knew that he would be forgiven.

Detective Fukuchi just looked at him with the same expressionless face before answering him.

"I didn't know it was him until he was gone. I figured that the only teenager who would go looking for you is him."

He felt his heart beating fast in his chest. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't! If only he stayed in the office today, he would have had Ainosuke-kun safe by now. He had missed his chance. Twice.

He sighed in defeat.

"You sure he didn't go to where that Sano Mai girl lives?"

Kato looked up at the older man and shook his head in frustration.

"I didn't see him."

Then, his lips formed a small smile.

"Somehow, Fukuchi-san, I know that it would not be that easy to find Ainosuke-kun."

xxx

"What's with the long face?"

The man she addressed jumped comically and she couldn't help but laughed. He glared at her and she did her best to stifle it, which was not very successful.

"Sayama-sensei! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

She grinned at him and waited patiently as he tried to calm his heart down. A sight that she found amusing. It was all she could do to not laugh, seeing that doing so would only resulted in him being irritated. An irritated Kato-san equaled to a moody Kato-san, which equaled to cold silence instead of answers.

No, she didn't want that. Not when she had so much to ask.

"What are you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes at him, expecting the question. Honestly, after three months, she would have thought that he knew that it meant when she turned up at the police station.

"Waiting for you, of course. I want to ask you something."

She crossed he arms.

"About Ainosuke-kun?"

She rolled her eyes again at him. Did he seriously have just asked that? When had she come to ask about anything else?

"Okay, fine, I get it. No, I don't hear anything knew from or about him. Except…"

She perked up at the last word.

"Except what, Kato-san?"

She watched impatiently as her friend furrowed his eyebrow, thinking hard. He then turned to face her fully.

"Ainosuke-kun came to the police station this afternoon, when I was out working on a case."

She gaped at him. He could do that? Then, why on earth hadn't he come out earlier. Escape even. Then, why? She must have looked so stunned, as Kato-san noticed her look. One look at him, though, she knew that he was thinking the same thing.

"This is more serious that we thought, Sayama-sensei. After these past days incident, I couldn't help but think that Ainosuke-kun choose to remain with his kidnapper."

She nodded, she had been thinking over that idea ever since she went back to infirmary yesterday night.

She had not been able to go back to her home since the debt collector was knocking at her door. So she had to take cover in the infirmary for a few hours. She bit her lips when was reminded of her piling debts. She shook her head furiously.

This was not the time to think about that. There was more pressing matter that she needed to focus on.

"But, Kato-san. What I don't get is, why did he do it?"

Her friend shook his head.

"Who knows, Sayama-sensei. Who knows."

xxx

The man scowled as he knocked on the wooden door. Seriously, what was he? A delivery man? A service man, maybe? One that could be called anytime when you needed something?

His string of negative thoughts was but abruptly when the door opened. He opened his mouth to make his thought known, but stopped short when he caught the expression the older was wearing on his face.

"Yoshida? What's wrong?"

The older shook his head and moved aside, letting him to slip inside. His mind was working through all the possibilities of what might happened in such a short time to have the older that gloomy. A sound of door beign locked was heard and he was faced with a very anxious Yoshida.

"Ainosuke-kun is having a fever."

Yumeto nodded and absently holding up the medicine that he had brought earlier before coming here.

"You told me that in the phone. When you told me to go and buy some medicine."

A hint of annoyance crept through his voice. If Yoshida heard it, he didn't give any indication that he did.

"It's getting worse, Yumeto-san."

Annoyance was replaced by worry in an instant. All he wanted to do now was to bolt to his brother's bedroom and see how Ainosuke was doing. Yoshida continued, as if not noticing his turmoil.

"I wanted to take him to see doctor, but I know we can't do that. So I called you. It was really high."

His eyes widened and he said chokingly, "I'll go check on him."

He turned quickly, heading towards the room his brother was in, thankful when he heard no footstep following him.

Quietly, he turned the handle and slipped into the softly lit room. A bit brighter than yesterday, but not by much. He slowly made way to his brother's bed side, eyes never leaving the bundle that was laying at one side of the bed. His feet stepped around his brother's pet on the way.

His eyes saddened when he saw the state his brother was in. The kid was shivering lightly, probably because of the fever he was having. He reached out for the cloth that was placed on his brother's forehead, frowning when he found that it was already warm.

Sighing and accepting the fact that his big brother side of him was currently very winning, he sat down next to his brother and dipped the cloth to the basin filled with ice water. He wrung it out before folding it carefully and placed it back on his little brother's forehead.

He put the medicine on the bedside table and, sighing heavily, moved to get up, but froze when he felt a hand gripping his long sleeve. Closing his eyes for a second, he mentally berated himself for not being careful.

Opening his eyes, he turned his head slowly to look at his brother. And true to his fear, he saw brown eyes that was closed a few seconds ago was now gazing at him.

Now what was he going to do?


	7. Episode 1, Part 6

k59: i'm sooo tired.. i'm struggling with the workload that the teachers gave me.. so, i'm sorry that this took so long.. hopefully i can take lesser time for the next chapter.. thanks for those who are still with me in this.. enjoy^^~!

* * *

><p>to Millenia-hime: i had fun, thx^^ u'll see in this chapter actually.. i had a feeling that this chapter was a bit rushed.. but, well.. it had happened (^_^;).. thx for readingXD<p>

to abc31 : i would love to watch if that happened in the drama^^~ but, since there's next to nothing in reality, we'll just have to make do with this, i guess (^_^;).. happy very late new year to you too n thx for reading :D

to MissRei24 : glad u luv it.. me too:D we can hope, can't we? thx for reading^^~

* * *

><p>Episode 1 – Part 6 'Making Amendments'<p>

xxx

xxx

His fingers clenched, tightening the grip that he had on his brother's sleeve.

He didn't know what had made him do it. All he knew was just that he was so tired. Too tired and miserable to care that his brother would've wished that he was asleep when he came to his bedroom. He hadn't wanted for his brother to go. Not like yesterday. So, he had acted on impulse and grabbed his brother by his sleeve.

From the moonlight that shone through the window, he could see the worry and dread on his brother's face. Seeing his older brother's face for the first time in three months, he couldn't help the tears that had gathered in his eyes.

"Don't go."

He saw how his brother's eyes widened at his plea and how his jaw tensed. Using the grip he had, he tugged his brother's arm, trying to get him sit back down on his bed.

It had felt nice.

Being near his brother again.

He felt hand on top and his and he looked up to look his brother in the eyes. What he saw, however, made his heart weep bitterly. It was that determined look again. The one he had seen for a flash second the moment his brother laid his eyes on him in that police station.

He was going to leave again.

And true to his fear, the fingers – gentle though their touch was – were prying his fingers off the material of the shirt he was clutching on. He clenched his fingers tighter, tears threatened to fall any time now.

"No. Please, stay."

His brother blinked at him and he watched with growing trepidation as his brother seemed to freeze because of his action.

"Please… Sta–"

He stopped abruptly when he felt hand gently rested on his cheek and a thumb on his lips, preventing him from talking. Looking up, he nearly cried right there at the tender expression that his brother was regarding him with.

"Stop it."

His eyes widened at the plea his brother's voice was laced with. He looked at his brother closely, as well as his could in the dim light, and was surprised at the deep sadness and longing there. But…

Why would his brother be sad?

Yesterday, too, his brother had sounded like that.

The hand on his cheek started to move slowly, caressing the fever flushed skin underneath it gently. This action alone seemed to be enough to bring him close to tears. Never had he thought that he would again receive any affectionate gesture from his brother.

"Stop it."

He looked at his brother in confusion at the repeated whisper.

"Stop looking at me like that."

The whisper was so soft that if it was not so silent in the room he was sure he wouldn't have heard it. He looked at his brother in desperation, not knowing what that meant. Then, just as he opened his mouth, a soft breeze blew past him, making him shivered lightly. This night was particularly cold and his fever didn't help any.

Something warm engulfed him and he blinked at his brother's hunched figure who was in the middle of the process of tucking him in. His brother noticed the confused look he was having on his face and smiled softly, swiping his fringe away from his eyes and caressing his hair gently.

He sighed contently and closed his eyes, leaning into his brother's touch. Something was amiss though. But he couldn't pinpoint what…

His eyes opened suddenly in fear as he realized that he was thoroughly cocooned in his blanket. It meant that his brother had successfully pried his hand off his sleeve.

There was nothing he could do to keep his brother from leaving.

With the limited light, he could just make out his brother's silhouette walking away from him.

He started to struggle, panicking. But, weakened as he was from his fever, his attempt to free himself from his own blanket was futile.

A helpless sob escaped his lips as he continued his effort to break free. He needed to get out of there. He had to–

A lingering kiss on his forehead stunned him enough to still his movements. He stared blankly at the hovering face of his older brother, realizing for the first time the hand that was resting gently on his cheek.

The silence stretched until he let out a distressed sound and was back to sobbing.

The hand started to caress his hair and he felt a comforting weight settled beside him.

"Shh… You aren't well. Just relax."

He peered up at the owner of the voice whom he found was looking at him with concerned eyes. Tears continued to roll down his cheeks and onto the pillow. His brother's hand move to wipe them away before resuming to caressing his hair, making soothing sound all the while.

Gathering his courage and strength, he squirmed under the blanket, wriggling his hand free. The moment he succeeded, however, he hesitated.

What if his brother shook his hand off? He didn't think that he would be able to face that, didn't think that he could handle any rejections. His heart was hurting too much already. But...

Peering at his brother once again, he could see the tender expression that his brother was giving him and he felt his confidence grew a little.

He slowly moved his hand closer and closer to his brother's unoccupied one. His fingers curled around his brother's long ones with all the strength that he had.

Relief washed over him when he felt the hand moved to hold his properly, squeezing reassuringly.

He rolled over to his side, facing his brother. With his other hand, he clasped his older brother's hand between his smaller ones and drew it closer to his chest.

His brother's hand was cold, but he didn't mind. It was a reminder for himself that his brother was here now. That thought alone was enough of a reassurance for him to fall back asleep.

xxx

Yoshida smiled as he watched the scene unveiled before his eyes.

Both Yumeto-san and Ainosuke-kun needed this. He could see it in their eyes that they needed each other, just as badly as the other did.

If only their situation was not this complicated…

He hated it that he could do nothing to help other than watching over Ainosuke-kun as Yumeto-san had asked him to. For the first time in his life, he wished that the organization did not exist.

Sighing tiredly, he reached for the door handle and closed it firmly. It wouldn't do anyone good standing there. He might as well use this time to make broth for the sick child when he was awake.

Ever since Ainosuke-kun moved in, he had rather quickly learned that it was easier to coax the boy to eat when presented food that required less chewing.

_(flashback)_

_He sighed quietly with disappointment as, once again, the boy refused to even look at the meal that he had brought in. _

_The child had gone a full day without anything other than water going into his stomach and he was more worried that he had ever thought he could. At the rate this was going, the child would have collapsed before he could help him if he didn't do something. _

_Taking the tray, he stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. He put the tray on the kitchen counter and sat down on the chair tiredly._

_What should he do?_

_He had no experience with taking care of a child… teenager… whatever. The point was he had never had to take care of someone before and this whole thing was new to him. That did not mean that he wouldn't do his best though. _

_He went through the foods that he had brought to the boy so far. Eggs, breads, pancakes, pastas, pies, cakes…_

_Groaning at his own stupidity, he stood up and walked to the cupboard. How could he forget about that? It should have been the first thing that he thought of, but yet, it wasn't._

_He took the cream soup powder out and started preparing the meal with new vigor._

_Half an hour later, he was back sitting at the side of the bed near the silent boy. _

"_Ainosuke-kun…"_

_The boy gave no sign that he heard him and just continued to stare right ahead of him. Reminding himself not to be discouraged by the lack of response, he decided on a more direct approached._

_He took the Ainosuke-kun's hand and – ignoring the flinch that the boy gave – push the bowl full of warm soup into it. The slight heat on his palm seemed to stir some reaction out of the boy. Supporting the limp hand with one hand, he reached out to the other and wrapped it around the bowl too._

_He let go of the hands and was relieved when the boy didn't drop it._

"_I know you don't feel like eating anything, but you can at least drink, right?"_

_He waited for a few moments, but Ainosuke-kun didn't look as if he was going to move, instead just staring at the bowl. He was just about to coax him again when he noticed the slightest twitch of his fingers._

_Then, slowly, the boy lifted the bowl up and, after a slight hesitation, brought it to his lips._

_Ainosuke-kun drank slowly, with a slight pause in between his sips, but he waited patiently with a smile on his face._

_It was a great improvement compared to the previous day._

_(end of flashback)_

"Yoshida."

The ex-bomber turned around with a frown. He had thought that Yumeto-san was going to stay a bit longer than this with Ainosuke-kun.

"You're leaving already?"

The younger man nodded gravely.

"He's getting even worse. He started coughing a few minutes ago and his shivering became more noticeable."

He noticed the worried glint that had entered his leader's eyes as this was said. He was quite sure that same glint could be seen in his own.

"What are we going to do?"

The crime planner shook his head.

"_We_ are going to do our own duty."

The older frowned at the hard tone that had entered the younger's voice. Yumeto gave no reaction to this and continued speaking.

"_You_ are going to look after Ainosuke."

He could only watch as his leader turned around and started marching at the direction of the front door.

"And _I_ am going to make some amendments to my plan."

xxx

Kato sighed as he entered the flat again. He had searched the parks, every suspicious looking vehicle, but…

Nothing.

He still couldn't find Mai-chan.

Looking at his watched again, groaning as he realized that one hour had gone by. Now, he only had an hour to find the child and he had absolutely no clue.

"Kato-san! How is it?"

He looked at Sayama – she had insisted to come with him as she was again at the police station when he got an emergency call, stating that she could help calm Sano-san – and then at the hopeful expression Sano-san was giving him, hating himself for delivering a bad news. He shook his head.

Both women's face fell at his answer and Sano-san started to cry anew. The younger woman moved to comfort her.

He grimaced and was about to do the same when his eyes caught something that looked familiar. His hand immediately seized the paper that was laying on the counter at the corner of the room and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"Sano-san, where did this come from?"

The distressed mother looked at him and then at the paper in his hand. Sayama's eyes widened when she released what that was.

"A boy claiming to be Mai's friend. He came yesterday and drew that."

His eyes widened and he cursed quietly.

Ainosuke-kun did come here after all. He must have been out chasing the doves when the boy came and didn't get to meet him. Again, he was left with the boy's drawing instead.

He shared a look with the school nurse, both wearing the same disappointed expression.

Pushing his annoyance aside for missing the chance to find the boy for the third time, he concentrated on the drawing.

The left side of the paper was the symbol of a delivery service company, the Sea-lion delivery service, to be exact. On the right side was a picture of one of the windmill at the wind power system.

He could hear his heart pounding in his chest as the answer laid before his eyes.

The animal hint.

Cannot get out by herself.

Will die within 2 hours.

It all fit. He knew where Mai-chan was!

She was in the Sea-lion delivery's warehouse near the wind power system!

"Come on!"

He gestured for the two women to follow him.

"I know where your daughter is!"

xxx

Yumeto sighed as he walked out of the warehouse, the little girl wrapped securely in his arms. He could just make out the sound of police patrol car's siren getting louder and louder.

He had headed straight here the moment he heard the announcement of the location where the girl might be kept. He didn't know how had the police managed to find out, but he was thankful nonetheless. It would make him less suspicious this way.

His eyes found the stretcher and he quickly laid the girl down on it. He then stepped back, allowing the girl's mother to see her daughter.

He felt a hand tapped his shoulder and turned around.

Standing in front of him was a police officer he knew Ainosuke had made acquaintance of three months prior. Next to him was Ainosuke's school nurse. He resisted the urge to raise his eyebrow at her as he was not supposed to know who she was.

"Thank you, for finding her."

He recognized that voice. So this was the man who had figured out the girl's would have to ask him how he had managed to solve the hints. But for now, he still had a role to play. He smiled pleasantly.

"It's no problem at all. I just happened to be patrolling near this area."

"Well, whatever your reason is, you really saved Mai-chan's life. I am detective Kato, from Tokyo jurisdiction."

He bowed a little.

"Sakisaka."

"Kato-san!"

All three of them turned to the police officer who had called out the name.

"Sano-san wishes to thank you. Ah! You two too!"

He could see a glint enter the school nurse's eyes and she urged Kato and himself to go quickly. He snorted at the thought of being thank for this, since he was literally the one who planned the kidnapping in the first place.

A heavy thought weighed down his heart as he ran along.

This was a bit rushed, he knew, but he had no time to lose. He had to finish this quickly if he was about to carry out his new plan as soon as possible. It was necessary if he wanted to make sure that his little brother could get the attention that he needed to recover.

And this was the only way he could think of to make that happen.

~End of Episode 1~


	8. Episode 2, Part 1

k59: i know this is very very late n i'm so sorry.. for u guys who like nyc, i've posted an nyc oneshot in my livejournal account since i can't really post it here.. the username is still kazuko59.. hope u enjoy this chapter n thank you for those who are still with me *bows deeply*

* * *

><p>to Milennis-hime: guess your question is answered partially in this chapter.. the rest u just have to wait^^~ srry for the long wait n thank you for commenting n reading :D<p>

to abc31: a bit of that is revealed here, actually.. n it's quite easy from there to guess what Yumeto had in mind^^ thank you for reading n commenting n sorry for the long wait ^^~

* * *

><p>Episode 2 – Part 1 'Let the Game Begin'<p>

xxx

xxx

Sayama Hitomi felt she was a lot of things. A devoted school nurse, for one – when she was not busy shopping, calculating her debts or searching for her lost student that is. A good companion for people who wanted to share their problems – especially money!

Well, anyway, she realized now that she was by no mean a good mystery solver.

Sighing dejectedly, she continued to stare at the pictures in his hands. For some reason she didn't really care about, Detective Fukuchi had allowed Kato-san to keep them and she had asked – demanded – that he gave her copies of each of them. Now, if only she knew what they meant…

"Those are good."

The voice surprised her enough to make her jumped on her seat. She turned around, to see a boy standing awkwardly to the side and a bit behind the chair she was sitting on. The boy had a slightly guilty look on his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that you weren't answering when I called from the door."

She put her hand to her chest to calm her furiously beating heart, smiling at the boy kindly.

"It's okay, really. I was just too engrossed, that's all."

He returned the smile, looking so relieved that Sayama couldn't help but giggled quietly.

"No doubt there. Those sketches look almost real. Who drew them?"

Her smile faltered.

"Tanaka Ainosuke."

To her curiosity, the boy deflated a bit. Maybe he was friend with Ainosuke. For all she knew, Ainosuke was a bit of a loner boy. True, he had friends, quite a lot in fact. But no one was extremely close to him.

Still, she felt obliged to ask. Even if it was only for the sake of common courtesy.

"You know him?"

The boy – she really needed to get his name – looked surprised by her question. But he answered nonetheless, nodding slowly, as if not sure if he should tell her.

"We were classmates. Last year, during our freshmen year."

She smiled a bit.

"I see."

He hesitated a bit before opening his mouth, voicing his thought.

"I haven't seen him in a long time though. Usually I saw him on the rooftop during break or under a tree after school. Sketching."

She sighed again and glanced at the sketches in her hands, "Neither have I." She blinked, finally realizing her mistake, and looked back at the boy, "Oh! I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about you yourself. Why do you come to the infirmary… uhm…"

The boy smiled slightly.

"Kaito Masaki. I just felt a little bit light headed, so I was thinking maybe I can lie down for a while here?"

"Of course! That's the purpose of infirmary, after all. Feel free to take one of the beds."

Masaki-kun smiled and turned to head to the bed. A flicker caught her eyes and she watched, as if transfixed, as a pure white feather fluttered, falling onto the floor.

She blinked in surprise when a hand hastily snatched the feather and her eyes fell on the hand's owner. Masaki-kun offered her a nervous smile before retreating onto a bed, pulling the curtain close.

Raising her eyebrow at her student's odd behavior, she shrugged and turned her attention back to the paper in her hands.

She would never understand teenagers these days.

xxx

He closed the door behind him slowly, careful to not make so much noise. Putting the tray on the nightstand, he let his eyes raked on the two figures – brothers – on the bed.

"How high is it now?"

The older brother looked at him, worry shining in his brown eyes, hand never leaving his little brother's unmoving one.

"39.5, almost half a degree higher than this morning."

Yoshida shifted his eyes on the younger of the two, who was sleeping restlessly, tossing his head every once in a while. He watched silently as Yumeto wrung out a small towel he just dipped into iced water before folding and placing it back onto Ainosuke's forehead.

The kid shivered at the cold and gave a small whine. Yumeto reached out a hand to smoothen his brother's hair and shushed him gently.

"I bring soup and some medicine."

The crime planner nodded and was about to take the bowl when his phone rang. Yoshida raised an eyebrow as the younger man stood up and took out his phone.

"Sakisaka here… Understood. I will be there shortly."

He looked at the boy on the bed with sad eyes.

"The third kidnapping?"

He turned around as the younger man had nodded. Returning the gesture, he set his mouth in a grim line.

"I'll take care of Ainosuke. Do you want me to bring him there or are you going to?"

A contemplating look settled on Yumeto's face as he stared at his little brother's face.

"I think it's better that you do it. We can't risk anyone seeing me with him."

He nodded wordlessly, eyes following the crime planner as the younger man bent down and planted a kiss on his brother's temple.

They regarded each other with grim expression on their faces before, once again, the younger man nodded and strolled out of the room.

The ex-bomber sighed before taking a seat on the edge of the bed, flipping the towel onto the cooler side.

"Just a bit longer. Just wait a bit longer, Ainosuke-kun."

xxx

Detective Fukuchi was not sure whether to be pleased or annoyed that another kidnapping case occurred. On one hand, he could now be sure that this was indeed a serial kidnapping. However, he could not help but angry that another family had to suffer the pain of losing their child.

He kept his face stoic as the victim's mother pleaded with the police to help her, fighting the urge to sigh.

Why had he decided to follow his subordinates here, he wasn't sure. The only thing he could say was that this case intrigued him. That, and a nagging feeling that something interesting was going to happen here.

And he was right.

He frowned when Kato pulled out something from his pocket and placed it on the table. Immediately, he recognized it as Tanaka Ainosuke's drawing. The cartoon chick, one of the few pictures that had not really related to anything in the previous two kidnappings.

The woman blinked before answering in hesitant voice.

"It's… It's not a chick. It's a reindeer, the symbol of the company where I am currently working at."

His eyes narrowed and he looked at his subordinates' shock faces. Kato seemed to be expecting it, however and just nodded.

He frowned deeper. Kato had asked him whether they could help her raise money to pay the unreasonably high ransom and he had said that, as policemen, they could not interfere with the case.

But now, it was clear to him that somehow, the company played a part in this case as well, if the drawings were to be taken seriously. So far, it had seemed to be the case.

Just how on earth can that boy, Tanaka Ainosuke, managed to find out what the criminal organization was planning and dropped a hint or two to the police?

The boy was a mystery.

And as a detective, it was his job to solve that mystery. Whatever the cost was.

"Maybe," he said aloud, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "You can ask him to lend you money to pay the ransom."

He was aware of the alarmed looks his subordinates were giving him, but the woman nodded, albeit hesitantly. Giving order to the still stunned police officers, he walked out of the small house.

He was going to see this case through, no matter what he needed to do to achieve it.

xxx

Kato tried to look impassive but attentive as he watched the exchange between his superior officer and the company's owner, Kamiya-san.

Never had he thought that the strict Fukuchi-san would get into all the trouble of convincing the other man to lending money to his employee, let alone assuring that the money would be returned without any yen less. And Kamiya-san had agreed too.

Fukushi-san was acting really weird tonight. The Fukuchi-san he knew would have never gone through such difficulties to help a victim of kidnapping. Maybe his superior officer, just like himself, was intrigued by these kidnapping cases.

A sudden tone cut his musing and he fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket, muttering apologies all the while. He walked to the corner of the room, away from the other occupants.

"Yes?"

"_Put it on speaker."_

His heart nearly stopped at the mechanic voice rang through his phone. How did the kidnappers managed get his number?

"S-sorry?"

"_Your phone, Kato-san. Put it on speaker."_

Bewildered – how on earth did they know his name? – he walked to Fukuchi-san and squatted beside his superior officer. The older frowned and turned to him.

"What is it?"

"It's from the kidnapper, he wanted me to put him on speaker."

The frown on Fukuchi-san face got deeper before he turned to the other occupants of the room.

"Kaito-san, Kamiya-san, we had just received a call from the kidnapper. If you don't mind, we are going to put it on speaker so you can hear what he had to say."

Both adults nodded. Kaito-san looked scared and worried, but that was to be expected. After all, this was her son's life on the line.

After receiving a nod from Fukuchi-san, he put the phone on speaker and laid it down on the coffee table.

"Fukuchi here. You are on speaker. What do you want?"

"_I am going to tell you what to do with the ransom money. I want it ready at 10am tomorrow."_

Kato furrowed his eyebrows. This was different than the previous two kidnappings. In the previous cases, the kidnappers always sent a letter to the victim's house about what to do with the ransom money and used phone call only to tell where their child was. Why had they changed their method?

"Where and who will take the money?"

Fukuchi-san's question had him out of his musing.

"_Let's play a game, Detective Fukuchi."_

"What?"

"_If you play my game correctly, I will give you a bonus."_

Kato's eyebrows furrowed further at this statement and he saw Fukuchi-san frowned. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Kaito-san stared at his phone in panic and his heart went out to her.

"What do you mean?"

"_I wouldn't be fun if I told you, now would it? Don't worry, I am sure that the police would be ecstatic with this bonus."_

The silence in the room was deafening as the occupants digested the information.

"_As I said, I want the money on the road at 10am. I will contact the person via this phone as to what to do with the money afterwards."_

"You want the victim's mother to be on the road with the ransom money and the phone at 10am tomorrow?"

"_Let's make this game more interesting, shall we?"_

He exchanged a glance with his superior officer. This situation was getting weirder and weirder by the seconds.

"_I want one of your subordinates to carry the money. I believe his name is Kato Takashi."_

His eyes widened almost comically at the sound of his name. His astonished eyes met the others surprised ones and he gulped involuntarily.

"_Well, then. I will look forward to our game tomorrow, police officers."_

"Wait-!"

Before anything else could be said, the line was cut, leaving them with the long keening noise. Fukuchi-san reached for the phone and closed it with a snap. He watched in silent, still stunned at how things had progressed, as the older man offered his phone back to him.

"Any idea what that was about, Kato?"

He took his phone gratefully and shook his head.

"No, sir. None at all."

He did not mention how, for some strange reason that he himself did not fully understand, his mind wandered to a certain junior high schooler with messy brown hair.

He would need to call Sayama-sensei after this.

xxx

He stirred when he felt himself being laid down on a mattress. Weird, he did not remember having gone out of his bed. He was struggling to open his eyes when his ears picked a shushing sound. A cool hand smoothing his sweat soaked hair.

"_Niichan_?"

The shushing noise was getting louder and he heard a familiar voice whispered softly.

"Go back to sleep, Ainosuke-kun. Everything is alright."

That was all the push that he needed. Within seconds, he was back to slumber.


	9. Episode 2, Part 2

k59 : hey^^~ i'm back! for now at least.. i just wanna thank you who r still with me n being so patient.. i know waiting sucks.. i'm a reader too, so i really appreciate that u're still with me^^~ anyway, enjoy XD**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>to AnnReading : if u're late then i'm very very late.. i recognize u^^ u still have the same profile pict.. thank you for the wishes.. i'll really need it since it starts next week X0 i really don't know what i'm doing not here (^_^;).. thx for reading n commenting^~^<p>

to abc31 : i'm planning to^^~ i think that they really shouldn't make Masaki disappear.. it looked as if the boys weren't friends anymore.. yes, he's still sick but it's kinda important that he is (^_^;).. thx for reading n commenting^^~

to ollie : i'm really sorry X0.. but i really don't have time to update fast.. this year is really crucial to me, so.. pls just bear with me (^_^;).. thx for reading n commenting^~^

* * *

><p>Episode 2 – part 2 'Hide and Seek'<p>

xxx

xxx

A resounding bang jolted him from where he was seated. His hands were fumbling to put the thing he had been staring at earlier into his drawer. Hiding his nervousness behind a mask of annoyance, he looked up to face an irate gunslinger who had just stormed into his office.

"Why?"

Yumeto raised an eyebrow at the very unclear question the woman had just thrown him, pushing the drawer close discreetly.

"You need to be more specific than that if you expect an answer, Noriko."

The woman made no move. Instead, the frown she was wearing was getting deeper.

"You change your plan for the third kidnapping. Why?"

He let out an annoyed sigh and turned his attention to his laptop.

"And I should share my reason to you why?"

The gunslinger glared at him, to which he just raised an unimpressed eyebrow. He pushed aside his laptop, focusing his attention to the woman seething in his office.

"What you seem to have forgotten, Noriko, is that I am your leader. Thus, I have no obligation whatsoever to explain myself to you. When I make a change in my plan, you follow it, not question it. Do I make myself clear?"

A slightly strained smile formed on Noriko lips, "Crystal."

Without another word, the gunslinger walked out of his office, with his gaze following her retreating form. Once she was out of his office, he gave a soft sigh.

That was far too close for his liking, his hand moved to take the picture he had shoved into his drawer earlier. A slight smile lightened up his face as he caressed the sentence that was written at one corner of the paper, careful not to smudge the pencil.

"I wonder if you can still say this to me after all that has happened," he murmured to himself. With a final sigh, he carefully refolded the paper and placed it back into the drawer.

He reached for his phone and dialed a number before leaning back into his seat. His posture was completely relaxed, betraying whatever uneasiness that he was currently feeling.

Be prudence, better be prepared that sorry. That was what he had learned from his role as a crime planner. And he would continue to do just that, especially if the look Noriko had given him was any indication.

He needed to make sure that everything was in place.

xxx

She watched silently as Yoshida walked out of the apartment building and into a car, before driving off. No doubt to finish the last preparations for the event tomorrow.

Noriko scowled deeply.

There had to be a reason why Yumeto decided to let Yoshida be the messenger for this final kidnapping instead of leaving it to her just like the last two cases. There just had to be.

And she will find out what it was.

She walked out of her car and took off her sunglasses, closing the car door as she went. It did not take her long to arrive to her destination and she took a pick lock from her pocket. A soft click could be heard and she's in.

Closing the door behind her, she looked around the dark apartment. She flipped the switch on and squinted as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light.

The living room looked just like a normal apartment. Definitely nothing here.

She walked pass the kitchen, ignoring it completely.

Looking around, she stared at the three remaining doors.

The one on the opposite wall was a storeroom, she had learnt from the one time she had been here. The one on the left was Yoshida's room. Somehow though, these rooms did not catch her attention.

No, her eyes focused on the door on the right. The spare bedroom.

Mainly because the door was slightly ajar, unlike the other two. Meaning that someone had recently been in the room.

Walking into the room and leaving the door open, she took in the surrounding.

It was oddly clean, for a room that had not been used at all ever since Yoshida moved into the apartment. It was as if – she frowned as the thought formed in her head – someone was using this room.

She walked to the wardrobe and wrenched it open.

Nothing.

There was nothing that indicate someone had been living there inside.

Frustrated, she tried the bathroom, only to be greeted with the same result. Looking around the room once again, she noticed that even the desk was free of any item.

She was about to check on the bookshelves when she sensed a presence in the room. In a blink of an eye, she had her gun drawn and pointed at the door of the room – right at an impassive Yoshida's face.

"Found what you looking for, Noriko-san?"

Putting her gun back, she let out an annoyed sigh.

"Not quite. Who was living in this room?"

The ex-bomber raised an eyebrow at her.

"No one. This is a spare room."

"It's too clean. And it's not like there are people who would visit you."

"I like to keep my place clean. Moreover, if someone did live here, shouldn't there be some sort of personal belongings here?"

Narrowing her eyes but letting the matter drop, she walked pass Yoshida and out of the room, heading for the main door.

"You're leaving already?"

Yoshida's voice called out to her as she pulled the door open.

She spun around swiftly and regarded the man with a cold look before answering.

"I've got all the information I need. For now."

Throwing a last glance at the room, she slipped through the open door. Behind her, Yoshida took his phone and dialed a number as he walked to the still open door. Hearing the soft click informing that his call was answered, he closed the door and locked it back.

"Everything was just as you had said, Yumeto-san."

xxx

Kato bit his lips nervously as he once again looked at his wrist watch.

9.50 and she was nowhere to be seen.

"You okay, Kato?"

He turned his head to face his superior officer and nodded shortly.

"Fine. Nervous, but fine."

Detective Fukuchi looked at him for a moment, as if calculating him, before answering.

"I understand. I would be too, if I'm in your position. Whether that boy will return, it's all depending on you. You will be incredibly ignorant if you aren't."

Okay, he was very sure of this right now. Detective Fukuchi was absolutely horrible at comforting people. Even when trying to comfort people, the older man had somehow managed to make him even more pressurized. Thank goodness that Fukuchi-san was not a motivator or something like that.

He smiled awkwardly and was about to make a comment that would get him into trouble later when a shout defeated him into it.

"Kato-san!"

Sighing tiredly, he turned to face the school nurse, and couldn't help the yelp that escaped his mouth.

"What on earth are you wearing?"

Sayama frowned at him and looked down to stare at the dress she was wearing. It was a pitch black dress, complete with an overly large black hat and sunglasses.

"What's wrong with these? You said that I need to look unsuspicious."

He dropped his head onto his hand and groaned.

"And just how are you going to achieve that if you look like a Victorian woman lost in time?"

She frowned deeper.

"But you said that I will be doing some spying. And all the spies in the movies I watched wear black clothes."

"If you wear those clothes you are just going to attract more attention. Go change to something that is much less suspicious looking!"

Kato used his free hand – the one that wasn't carrying the money bag – to attempt to turn his colleague around. Sayama just pouted and batted his hand away.

"And just what do you suggest I wear? Jeans and shirts?"

He nodded seriously with the straightest expression he could manage. His cool and collected façade almost broke when the school nurse proceeded to throw her hands up and stomp away, grumbling about annoying police detective who liked to criticized her fabulous fashion sense.

"If that's fabulous, I rather not see what she sees as horrendous."

He murmured to himself while shaking his head in exasperation.

A coughing sound startled him enough to realize that he had forgotten that, all this while, Fukuchi-san was standing right beside him.

"What was that about, Kato?"

And that he had not discussed this with his superior officer.

He's doomed.

"Uhm, well… She's our loophole."

The only response he got from Fukuchi-san was a raised eyebrow. He put his hand on the back of his neck in a nervous gesture.

"It's like… The kidnapper would probably ask me to lose all the police. But Sayama-sensei wasn't a police. So, I thought why not have her follow me discreetly."

He gulped anxiously as he waited for Fukuchi-san's reaction.

To his astonishment, Fukuchi-san did not berate him as he expected him to. The older police officer just nodded and checked his watch.

"You better start walking now, Kato. It's almost ten o'clock."

Not believing his luck but not daring to push it, Kato just nodded and started to walk away.

It wasn't even a minute later when his phone rang.

xxx

The first thing that he saw when he opened his eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling and for a moment he wondered if he had fainted at random place again.

But then the memories came back.

He was walking home from school, taking his usual route, when someone suddenly grabbed him and started dragging him away. He remembered being forced onto a car and someone covering his mouth and nose with chloroform soaked cloth.

The rest was blank.

Letting out a tired sigh, he pushed his body up to a sitting position. The gnawing feeling he had been feeling these past few days had increased tremendously.

Was his mother really the one behind the kidnapping cases?

If so, then… It was his fault, wasn't it?

Because he was no weak, his mother needed to work extra hard to keep their little family alive. It was all because he couldn't help with their family's finance that his mother ended up had to resolve to this method of getting money.

He drew his knees up and hugged them close to his chest, burying his face onto his knees.

He was such a burden.

Taking a deep breath, he shakily lifted his head. First thing first, he needed to know where he was.

He looked around and, to his astonishment, he seemed to be in a hotel of some sort. Guilt once again attacked him. He got to stay in a hotel, while the previous victim – and a child at that – was placed in a storage room.

The room was lighted in gentle lighting, furnished with television, small refrigerator, expensive looking wardrobe, comfortable twin beds, carpeted floor; all in all it was a typical hotel room.

Frowning in confusion, he looked towards his left, where the other bed was. For a moment there, he thought he saw someone occupying the bed.

It was absurd though, there was no way the kidnapper would go so far as to make sure that he didn't escape as to stay… here…

His heart started to pound frantically.

It was no mistake. There was someone lying on the other bed.

He pushed himself up to standing position and, with shaky legs, he stumbled towards the other bed, despite what his instinct was telling him to do. Escape immediately, while the person was still asleep.

As he became nearer to the bed however, he started to doubt that the person was one of his kidnapper.

The person couldn't be an adult, the figure on the bed was too short to be one. The person seemed to be tucked in as well, as if someone had put him there – he was sure that the person was a he.

What made him most confused though, was the fact that the person's breathing seemed to be short and labored. It was as if the person had trouble breathing.

As he stood at the edge of the bed and took a good look at the person's face, though, he couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips.

The face was horribly familiar, even when it had been about three months ever since he had seen it.

"Ainosuke-kun?!"

He quickly plopped himself onto the bed and started shaking the unconscious teen.

"Hey, Ainosuke-kun? Can you hear me? Wake up!"

It was then, when he started to pat the teen's cheek none too gently, that he realized what was wrong with his friend. He put his hand on Ainosuke's forehead and bit his lip anxiously. He may not have thermometer with him, but he was sure that much heat couldn't be good for a human body.

With a determined gaze, he stood up – even though he wobbled a bit – and headed for the refrigerator for some ice.

He could worry about the truth about these kidnapping cases later.

For now, he had a sick friend to attend to.


	10. Episode 2, Part 3

k59: this is so very tiring.. to be honest, i don't really like this chapter.. it feels like filling chapters.. no big event but have to be mentioned.. oh, well.. the next chapter is coming in a bit anyway *grins*.. yes, my dear readers, i have decided on having a double update^^~ it is kind of rare, seeing that i usually take weeks to update.. but, since after this it will probably be december the next time i update, i thought, 'why not?'.. anyway, see you in a bit XD

* * *

><p>to AnnReading: one reason i decided to go with this story is that i wanted Ainosuke to have a bit of a social life^^~ so yes, i'd like to say that Masaki will have a bigger role in here than in the original storyline XD.. about Shimada, we'll just have to see about that^^.. n the Ryutaro idea.. let's keep it between us, shall we? *grins*<p>

to ollie: i really appreciate your support on this n i hope that u'll be patient^^.. as i've mention, this year is really a busy n important year to me.. i'll try to update faster once my exam finish^^~ thx for reading n commenting XD

to JapanGirl0102: thank you^^.. i'm glad that you like it n i'll do my best XD thx for reading n commenting:)

* * *

><p>Episode 2 – Part 3 '98… 99… 100! Ready or Not, Here I Come'<p>

xxx

xxx

Sayama frowned as she saw her friend once again boarded a bus.

Thankful that she had decided to follow him with her car instead of walking, she trailed the bus from a good distance as to avoid suspicions.

Just in case the kidnapper was near.

She looked around and sighed when she saw none of the police officers that she knew were supposed to follow Kato-san like her. Guess the two of them had been right when they predicted that the kidnapper would tell Kato-san to lose all the police following him.

Focusing her gaze on the bus once again, she sighed heavily.

What was it that the kidnapper wanted to achieve by sending Kato-san to all those places? It looked to her that Kato-san had gone for an excursion instead of delivering ransom money.

Let's see…

Her hand reached for the note where she had scribbled the places her friend had visited so far.

A slight frown graced her face as she glanced at the seemingly – or maybe it really is – unrelated places. And now he seemed to be heading on the direction of the dock.

She shook her head in confusion. It really was very similar to the route that she took with her students when she had a study excursion. Minus a few places, of course. And change of route too! The kidnapper kept sending her friend to the opposite side of the city. It was such a waste of time.

Something at the corner of her eyes caught her attention and she casted a quick glance at it, frowning slightly.

It might have only been her feeling and she might have been wrong, but …

She was quite sure that she had seen that a few times today.

Tucking the thought at the corner of her mind for the time being, she focused in her task once again. She frowned when she recognized the area surrounding her.

Kato-san was heading to the dock.

Why did the kidnapper send him there? No, scratch that, the whole thing didn't even started to make sense to her. She never knew that kidnapping cases can be this complicated.

And just how, in the first place, did she get herself into this mess anyway?

Oh, right!

Ainosuke, of course. Who else can it be?

Seriously, that boy is going to be the death of her someday.

He was so reckless, and immature, and annoying, and bossy, and… has the cutest pout she had ever seen!

Her lips quirked into an amused smile.

She didn't think he was even aware he was doing it. Every time he faced a new problem or thinking about difficult things, his lips would unconsciously formed a pout.

It was so adorable!

She let out a sigh at her own silliness. It was her own fault that she got into this mess, to be honest. She had followed Ainosuke right into it.

And she had sworn that she would pull him out of it, no matter how difficult that might be.

That boy deserved someone to nag and take care of him. If no one was going to take the role, then she would.

Gladly.

The bus in front of her slowed down to a stop and she saw Kato-san made his way out.

He glanced at the blue car and she got the message immediately. This was where he would have to place the ransom money.

Her hand went to her bag in search for her phone as she slammed down the break and the car screeched into a halt. She smirked when she saw Kato-san flinched at the sound before hurrying in his task of opening the door to the dock.

Typing their location and sending it to Fukuchi-san's phone – Kato-san had given Fukuchi-san's number to her last night just for this purpose – she slipped out of the car and follower her friend.

She could only hope that help would come soon.

Too focused she was in watching Kato's movement, she didn't see someone approaching her silently.

And as the person put a hand on her shoulder, she let out a scream and lashed her right hook in the direction of the person.

xxx

He had never felt this miserable before.

Though there was one that came in close second. But that was quite some time ago.

It was raining very heavily that day and he had decided that he wanted to play with the water, under the pouring rain. It sounded like a good idea that time. Afterwards, though, not so much.

His brother had been very angry with him, muttering constantly about mischievous little brothers who didn't have any sense of self-preservation, even as he patiently sat at his bedside, taking care of him.

He remembered clinging to his brother as if the older was his life-line – and to him, he was, at least to his fever induced mind – as he was cradled in those warm arms. He remembered hands rubbing his back soothingly, trying to coax him out of the panic state he had somehow managed to get himself into as he clutched desperately to his brother's shirt.

Somehow, he would always know if it was his brother that was next to him. His brother radiated a sense of comfort and familiarity, something that he had never – could never – get from someone else.

But now he wasn't here.

Those hands that had carried him the last time he was somewhat conscious were Yoshida-san's. And though he offered comfort, he just wasn't his brother.

And neither was the one who was taking care of him now. This person's presence felt unfamiliar, so he wasn't Yoshida-san either.

Who…?

He let out a desperate whimper, even as he felt the person soothed his brow, making soothing sound. A whine escaped his lips as something cold was placed on his forehead.

His whole body was hurting.

Everything felt too hot and the fingers on his face were too cold.

_Where are you?_

He started to trash around as he panicked. He wanted – no, needed – his brother.

_Why aren't you here?_

_Niichan!_

xxx

Yumeto flinched as he nurse his stinging cheek from where he was sitting on the ground. This woman sure had a mean right hook.

Oh, well, at least he knew now that no harm would fall onto Ainosuke as long as this school nurse was taking care of his younger brother.

"Sakisaka-san!"

He looked at the disbelieved exclamation and forced a strained smile onto his face.

"Remind me to never surprise you ever again."

The school nurse let out an awkward laugh as he climbed onto his feet and dusted his pants. He looked at her and noticed a weird expression on her face. Oh well, he did arrived here almost before Kato-san and her, so her reaction wasn't unjustified.

"Why are you here, Sakisaka-san? I've just send the location to Fukuchi-san. You can't get here this fast."

He gave her a small grin.

"I had an idea that since the ransoms to the two earlier kidnappings were by ground then by air, the next one should be by water then. It appeared that Fukuchi-san agreed with me, so he sent some of us to patrol along the Tokyo dock."

The school nurse had an amazed look on her face that he couldn't help but chuckle amusedly. He then proceeded to lift himself off the ground and dusted his trousers. He cleared his throat pointedly, gaining an apologetic look from the nurse.

"I think we should follow Kato-san, don't you think so?"

The school nurse let out a gasp when she realized that she had forgotten her duty to always follow her friend and a tell tale of blush started to rise on her cheek.

He chuckled again and gestured to her to lead the way.

Once her attention was off him though, he dropped his mask and let some concern to show on his otherwise emotionless face.

He wasn't supposed to interfere with what Yoshida had planned. But something pushed him to do so, like a bad feeling that continued to nag at him, making him feel anxious. Even now that he knew this case will be over in a few hours max, the nagging feeling was still there.

It wasn't his crime planner part of him that felt this though, it was the big brother part of him. The part of him that – no matter how hard he tried to bury it deep down for good – was constantly be attuned to his little brother.

And it was saying that there was something wrong with his brother now. That he had to act.

So focused he was on his own thinking, by the time he caught up to the school nurse, she was already with the rest of the police officer, helping Kato-san back onto the shore.

He blinked repeatedly in astonishment.

Since when…?

With a grimace, he walked to them. He really needed to be more aware of the surrounding and not absorbed so much in his thinking. If Ainosuke was here, he would have already whining that he was ignoring him on purpose.

That thought brought a smile on his face that disappeared as quickly as it formed.

"Are you alright, Kato-san? That was a huge dolphin there."

He watched silently from the sideline as Kato-san brushed aside Sayama-sensei's concern and said that he was alright, just tired. Kato then reached into his blazer's pocket and took out a keychain with a number '1106'.

"I found this in one of the places that I was sent to. But I have no idea what this supposes to mean."

"Kato-san!"

Before anyone could voice his or her opinion, a group of divers surfaced and passed him the yellow plastic bag he used to carry the ransom money.

"The dolphin dropped the bag after carrying it around for a few minutes. There is no one else beside us here and the dolphin is now being watched closely."

Yumeto hid a smile as Kato took and opened the yellow plastic bag and promptly his jaw dropped open.

"What is it Kato-san?" Sayama asked nervously, seeing her friend reaction.

Kato just reached into the bag and withdrew a key, before turning the bag upside down, letting the water to flow out of the bag.

"The money is gone. There's only this key inside."

Seeing that no one seemed keen to make a move anytime soon, Yumeto cleared his throat pointedly, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"I suggest that we get back to the headquarter first to report back to Detective Fukuchi. Then we can talk of what to do next afterwards."

Mutterings, nodding of heads and stuttered 'yes' were what he got as answers. With a slight smile he turned around and headed to the patrol car that he had taken with him.

Hopefully, Sayama-sensei would get the hint and could pass it to Detective Fukuchi so that this case could be closed soon.

Or he would have to intervene again.

This was his brother's well-being on the line. He would do anything to make sure that his brother would be found and given the help he needed on time.

xxx

Yoshida gave a sigh from where he was seated in the car, lowering the binocular to the empty passenger seat beside him.

"Now it's all up to you, Yumeto-san."

xxx

Detective Fukuchi stared at the marks on the Tokyo map before him with a frown.

This did not make any sense. There was absolutely no connection between the places to be any clue, other than they were all in Tokyo.

He gave a sigh and looked around him.

Standing around the map were a few people that he thought would be any help.

The deliverer of the ransom money, Kato. Then the one who followed him all the time, Sayama-sensei. Lastly, the one who had correctly guessed where the ransom money was to be delivered, Sakisaka. There rest of the investigation team was still at the dock, searching for any lead or clues.

He frowned slightly.

This Sakisaka person, he was sure a clever man. He was the one who found the previous victim as well.

Coincidence? No, he didn't think so. He had been a police officer long enough to know that there was no such thing as coincidence. At least not in this part of the world.

He could find nothing wrong with the man's background and he seemed to be a responsible policeman.

Could he be thinking too much? Or Sakisaka was really just that smart?

A gasp snatched his attention away and he focused on the school nurse, just in time to see her clasped her hands together and started to scrutinize the map more.

"Sayama-sensei?"

He heard Kato asked in bewildered tone, but she just shushed him and began to trail her finger on the flat surface. She gave a triumphant exclamation as she pointed to a point in the map.

"This hotel! I remember I passed by the front of this hotel quite a lot of times today. There was an angel statue at the front so I remembered it clearly."

"Ah, I see."

He turned to look Sakisaka, who looked as if he had just realized something.

"This hotel – Sea West, is it? – is located in the centre of this places Kato-san went to. So it is only logical that you would bypass it quite a lot today."

Detective Fukuchi frowned and examined the map again. True to what Sakisaka had said, the Sea West Hotel was indeed located somewhat in the centre of the places they had marked.

"The key may be for a room in the hotel then," he concluded aloud.

Three pair of eyes focused on him.

"There has to be a reason why the kidnapper made you run around the city, Kato. This was as good as a lead as any."

All three of them nodded at his words but kept silent, waiting for him to give his next order. He cleared his throat and looked at them with authority.

"Kato, bring some police and investigate this immediately. Report your finding back here. Go!"

Kato saluted him and nodded to Sakisaka, signaling him to follow him. Sayama-sensei trailed after them both.

He let out a sigh as the trio disappeared behind the door.

Something told him that these series of cases were still far from over.


	11. Episode 2, Part 4

k59: as i promised, the next chapter^^~ i like this chapter better than the previous one, with a rather obvious reason.. oh, well, you'll know when you read it.. i'm afraid that after this it will be a while until i updated a new chapter though... my big exam in 2 weeks and all that.. so this double update is like a compensation...? anyway, enjoy^^~

* * *

><p>Episode 2 - Part 4 'I Found You'<p>

xxx

xxx

Kaito Masaki was panicking. He had tried everything that his mother did when he had a fever and none seemed to work. Instead, his friend seemed to have gotten worse.

Ainosuke-kun had started to mutter a few things some minutes ago, some of which he could barely catch: 'stop', 'don't leave', 'please', and 'stay'.

The one that had come up the most though, was '_niichan_'.

And every time that word was uttered, his heart clenched painfully. He felt responsible for all that has happened to Ainosuke-kun. It all ultimately got back to him. His mother did this for his sake, because he was too weak and was useless.

Each time, he shook off the urge to curl up and hide, and forced himself to continue to tend to his feverish friend.

His hand shook from handling the cold water and he could feel fatigue catching up to him. But, he couldn't give up yet. Not until Ainosuke-kun get a bit better or some help finally came, whichever came first.

Then, it got worse.

Ainosuke-kun started trashing about, limbs struggling weakly against the comforter that he had – with some difficulty – managed to wrap around his friend's shivering form. The whimpers and wails that were pouring out of Ainosuke-kun's lips did not help to ease his mind one bit.

So he did the only thing that he could in this type of situation.

He started to bang his fists against the door and screamed his throat raw.

The door was locked and the knob to unlock in from the inside had been busted. No matter how hard he pushed, pulled, kicked, the door remained in place.

That did not deter him this time though. He could only hope that someone out there will hear him.

He went on for minutes, until his hand were red from the many painful impacts against the wood. But still he continued. He would save his friend. He would save Ainosuke-kun. If he had to break his knuckles to do it, then so be it.

So focused he was from his self-appointed task, he did not register at first when there was an answering shouts from the other side of the door.

His knees almost went weak with relief when he realized that he did not imagine that and help was really coming. He was startled though, when he heard his name being shouted.

"Masaki-kun? Masaki-kun, is that you? Just hang on a bit more! Kato-san, the key! Where is the key?!"

His mouth dropped when he heard the feminine voice. He knew that voice!

"Sayama-sensei?!" He exclaimed with disbelief. What was she doing here? And what key was she talking about?

"Yes, yes, it's me! Just hang on for a bit! Kato-san, the key!"

"It's here! You are blocking the door, Sayama-sensei! Step aside, please!"

An exasperated voice joined in. This one, though, he didn't recognize. He didn't care though, if they were here to get him and Ainosuke-kun out of here, he wouldn't complain.

He heard the door being unlocked and was forced to step back a few steps to avoid being hit by the door as it swung open. Then he was suddenly smothered to a bone-crushing hug.

"Masaki-kun, you're alright!"

Just as quickly, he was released and hand was suddenly put onto his forehead and then cheek, checking his temperature.

"Are you, though? Any nausea? Fever? Cold? Dizziness? You are so pale!"

His head was spinning with the pace of the situation and he could do nothing other than blinking at it all.

"It seems that Detective Fukuchi was correct about the kidnapper's motive of that city tour. Right, Kato-san?"

The new voice made him tilted his head a bit as he stared at the two policemen standing at the door. One of them wearing casual clothes with black coat, while the other was wearing the usual police uniform.

"Thank goodness he was. Finally it is case closed!"

"No, it isn't, Kato-san. We still haven't figured out how the money disappeared."

"Right. There's that too. How can I forget?"

He sweatdropped at the casualty displayed by the two policemen. He had always envisioned police to be cold hearted individuals with scary faces. But, it seemed that this wasn't always true.

One of the policemen – Kato-san, if he remembered correctly – fished out a cell phone from his pocket.

"I'll inform Fukuchi-san that we found Masaki-kun and that we'll be bringing him to the hospital for check up."

Hospital?

Only then he realized that he was shaking and his hands were raw from banging the door so hard. But, he wasn't in that bad of a condition. The one who needed immediate attention was–

He let out a strangle gasp.

"Ainosuke-kun!"

Because he had turned from them to ran back to his friend's side, he didn't see how the three adult tense when he yelled the name.

Three pairs of eyes followed him and two of them widened in disbelief while the last one just watched with a hint of both sadness and relief in them. All three hurried after him.

"Masaki-kun, how…"

Masaki turned to see his school nurse looked at Ainosuke-kun in shock. He shook his head.

"I don't know. He was already like this when I woke up and found him lying here. He needed help and fast! His fever is very high and I can't bring it down!"

He watched as Sayama-sensei put her hand on the unconscious boy's forehead and flinched at the heat. She bit her lip anxiously, retracting her hand.

"It's no good. His fever is too high for me to do anything that would help. We'll have to get him to hospital as soon as possible."

Both policemen – somewhat pale – nodded and one of them, Kato-san, moved to carry the restless, fevered boy. It was proved to be difficult however, as Ainosuke continued to struggle helplessly, fighting against the hands that tried to calm him down.

"Sayama-sensei, is there anything that you could do?" Kato-san asked hopelessly to the school nurse who shook her head sadly.

"_Niichan…_"

All four of them stared at the boy who had, in his fevered sleep, uttered the word with plea laced voice.

"He had been calling for his older brother all this time," Masaki offered his explanation, confused when Sayama-sensei and Kato-san's faces saddened even further. "What's wrong?"

"Ainosuke's older brother died a little over three months ago," Sayama-sensei quietly explained.

"Oh, I… didn't know that," he offered weakly, the guilt he was feeling growing.

"Kato-san, let me try."

He watched silently as Kato-san stepped aside to allow the other policeman – he never learned his name – to take his previous place right beside the bed.

The man then lifted Ainosuke-kun's to a sitting position, supporting him with an arm around his shoulder. Ainosuke-kun struggled at first, before seemingly calming down when the policeman started to make soothing sound and rubbed his back gently.

He blinked in astonishment, Sayama-sensei gaped, and Kato-san let out a sound of wonder.

"You're good, Sakisaka."

The man – Sakisaka-san – just smiled lightly.

"I have a younger brother," he replied simply, offering no further explanation and simply heaved the unconscious boy into his arms, letting him to rest his head on his shoulder.

"Alright! We're heading to hospital, then. Masaki-kun needs to get a check-up as well, I think. I'll lock the room for the time being until Fukuchi-san sends a team to investigate it further."

He was then ushered out of the room by his very worried school nurse. Letting out a shaky breath, he let Sayama-sensei to fuss over him. Help had really come and they were no safe.

Now, he could start thinking about his mother's involvement in these kidnapping cases. And maybe, he should tell the police about it.

xxx

There were many difficult cases that he had faced in his career as a police officer and Detective Fukuchi pride himself to say that few could render him speechless. But this case was definitely one of such rare cases.

This was just ingenious!

The trick with soluble paper and the weird pattern of delivering ransom money. It was so detailed and calculated that even he was stunned for a moment.

His eyebrow furrowed as he watched his subordinate questioning the real suspect, Kaito-san.

He had received a call from Kato earlier, informing him that he had found not only Masaki-kun, but also Ainosuke-kun and they were going to hospital. Apparently, Ainosuke-kun was in a bad condition and Masaki-kun was not so well off either.

As if that wasn't enough of a news, Kato proceed to tell him that Masaki-kun had wanted to talk to him about the suspect of his kidnapping. The boy then told him about his suspicions, the evidence that he had found and his assumption why his mother had done it.

To say he was surprised was an understatement.

Not many teenagers had the sense of justice to do something like this, fewer was brave enough to actually carry it out. So it was only normal that he admired Masaki-kun for it.

Following the capture of the suspect, he had even more surprise waiting for him.

Kaito-san had crumbled the moment they said that it was her son that made the report of her being possible culprit and surrendered without any hassle. The police managed to get some information from her that confirmed his suspicion.

There was indeed someone else who had planned the whole thing for her. This was the work of that crime planner, the one who had managed to overthrow Kokusho Akira.

Hopefully, the female crime planner would be able to unlock that laptop.

Keeping his face stoic, he peered at his watch. There was still time for him to have a small stop to the hospital before going home today.

xxx

Sayama Hitomi sighed quietly as she smoothed her slumbering student's hair.

Masaki-kun was declared healthy by the doctor. Well, as healthy as he could be anyway. The stress he had because of the kidnapping and the event following it had caused his condition to deteriorate.

The doctor assured her that he would recover with plenty of rest.

Ainosuke though…

She stood up from the chair beside the bed that she was sitting on and, as quietly as she could, slipped outside and into the room right in front of the one she had just come from.

Opening the door, she could make out a sleeping figure on the bed, limp hand connected to an IV. Two police officers sitting on the chairs at one side of the bed, conversing quietly.

"Still no change?"

The two men turned to look at her. Sakisaka-san smiled slightly, while Kato-san just shook his head before answering her.

"Other than the fact that his fever had reduced slightly, no, there isn't any. He's still unconscious. How about Masaki-kun?"

She slipped onto the empty chair beside Kato-san.

"He's sleeping. Seems like what happened today had wore him out."

Her colleague nodded at her knowingly.

"With what happened today, I'm not surprised. He's been through a lot. This boy, though," Kato-san averted his gaze back to the boy in the bed, "had probably gone through more than what Masaki-kun did. Fukuchi-san would want to question him once he woke up."

"True that," she sighed.

"Not immediately, though. I'm quite sure that Fukuchi-san was not that cruel," Sakisaka-san reasoned out.

There was a rather dangerous glint in his eyes, she realized. It was gone in a flash though, so she passed it up as a trick of light playing with her vision.

"One question, though," he continued. The other two turned to look at Sakisaka-san, who stared back. "Where is he going to live? If I remember correctly, he is an orphan? And that his brother had died a few months ago?"

She blinked repeatedly. She hadn't thought of that.

"I... don't know. Kato-san?"

The police officer put his chin in his hand in thought.

"Now that you mention it… We collected Ainosuke-kun's belonging from his apartment right after he was kidnapped."

Seeing the raised eyebrow he got from her, he elaborated.

"We, Ohuchi-san and I, went to inform the landlord about Ainosuke-kun's disappearance and the man said that he wouldn't keep Ainosuke-kun's things there if he wasn't paid, something about renting the room to other people. So, I don't think Ainosuke-kun can stay there anymore. "

There was that glint again in Sakisaka-san's narrowing eyes. She shook her head, trying to focus back on the topic at hand.

"So, Ainosuke's things are in the police station?"

Kato-san shook his head.

"No, no. They are in my apartment. Ohuchi-san and I figured that it was easier that way to return it to him when he's back. No casualties and all that."

"Back to the problem," Sakisaka-san interrupted swiftly before the conversation could divert again. "Where would he be staying then?"

"Well, for the moment he would have to stay here," Kato-san reasoned. "Once he's well enough, I'll help him look for a place to stay."

Both Sakisaka-san and her nodded at his answer. It seemed that it was indeed the best solution for now. She would also help with whatever she could, so it would be alright.

Her smile faltered when she remembered something, though.

"The 2 million yen!"

She exclaimed, horrified, standing up from her chair. The two men stared at her as if she had grown an extra head.

"What are you on about now, Sayama-sensei?" Kato-san asked, bewildered.

"2 million yes, Kato-san! Ainosuke received 2 million yes from his brother just before his death. Where is it now?"

"He what?" Kato-san exclaimed with equal fervent. He also stood up and started to pace around in the small hospital room. "There's no money when Ohuchi-san and I packed Ainosuke-kun's things. Unless, Ainosuke-kun hid it somewhere so no one could find it. I hope he didn't hide it in one of the fixture in his old apartment, though. Someone would have found it by now if he did. Alright, let's go Sayama-sensei."

"Eeh? Where to?"

It seemed that her feet has a mind of their own though, for she found herself following her friend.

"My apartment. We're going to search and find that money. Sakisaka, stay here and inform me when there's a change in either of the boys' condition, alright? Thanks!"

She barely had time to give the other policeman an apologetic look before running after the panicking police officer.

Although, she did catch a glimpse of his amused expression.

xxx

Yumeto chuckled as he watched the duo left the room in hurry. He reached out a hand to caress his brother's hair gently.

"They shouldn't have worried."

He smiled when his brother unconsciously leaned into his hand.

"It was very obvious where you put the money, right, Ainosuke? You always put your money inside an envelope. Then, you'll hide by bundling it up with dad's old scarf. I've always told you that it wasn't very safe, though. But when did you ever listen to me?"

A sigh escaped his lips as he continued to caress his brother's hair.

How Ainosuke had managed to get himself a high fever is beyond him. It wasn't that serious of an illness too. The doctor had said that it probably caused by prolonged exposure to humid and cold weather.

Well, Yoshida did mention that they were caught in the rain when they went shopping. But, it was only for a short while and Yoshida ushered his brother to shower right after.

The last time Ainosuke got this bad of a fever was when the kid was 12 or so. He had come back to their home to Ainosuke running around under the rain.

To say he was furious was an understatement.

Thankfully, that problem had been solved with some medication and him constantly stay at Ainosuke's side, practically coddling him for days. He had to ask for a permission to miss his work during that time.

Now, he didn't have the luxury to that anymore. So hospital would have to suffice.

He smiled and planted a kiss on his brother's forehead, free to show a little bit of affection with no one around.

"Get well soon, little brother."


	12. Episode 2, Part 5

k59: finally i'm uploading this^^~ shorter than my usual chapter, but this is really all i want to appear in this episode.. i'll do my best to work faster on the next episode, ok? for now, thx for those who are still with me n enjoy~!

* * *

><p>to JapanGirl0102: thank you~ n thx for the wishes too^^ hope you like this chapter n thx for reading n commenting XD<p>

to ollie: thank you for reading n commenting^^~!

* * *

><p>Episode 2 – Part 5 'Interlude'<p>

xxx

xxx

Kokusho Akira smirked as he put the lock on the laptop back on.

As expected of Tanaka Yumeto. That man had thought of every single possible outcome of the crimes that he planned. Every little thing was taken into account.

Too bad for him, that amazing talent he had might be the cause of his downfall.

She just needed to know the situation out there to stay on the same page as him. And she knew how to get that information.

She looked up as the door open and Detective Fukuchi came in.

"You open the lock."

"I did."

Detective Fukuchi held out his hand. "Then?"

A smirk once again graced her face. "I put the lock back on."

"What?"

She stood up and strolled to stand in front of him.

"I am no fool, Detective Fukuchi. Once you get your hands on the information in that laptop, I would be of no use to you. Instead though, I will offer you a deal."

The detective tensed, his posture become even more rigid.

"An eye for an eye. You want information on this crime planner. I'll give them to you verbally, but only after you answer some of my questions."

A frown was sent her way.

"And if I refuse your offer?"

She shrugged and casually walked away from the bar and stood just next to the laptop.

"Then you can have your laptop back. But I could only say good luck figuring out how to open it."

The frown on Detective Fukuchi's face got deeper and she smirked, knowing she had won this round.

"Fine. But I can't guarantee that I will answer."

"Fair enough. So, tell me. Has the serial kidnapping case ended? The one with dogs, doves and dolphin?"

All she received was a nod.

"Hm... He sure works fast."

"What does this crime planner plan to do next?"

She sent him a creepy smile. "You already know, Detective Fukuchi. You must have gotten the notice already."

"What do–"

"The last kidnapping. You better keep an eye out for this particular kidnapping. Oh, and the one that is about to happen too."

Detective Fukuchi narrowed his eyes.

She smiled predatorily, causing her to look even more evil. "Kaito-san, is it? She is going to be famous soon."

"I think it's enough for now." He casted suspicions-filled gaze towards her. "I will bring that crime planner down. Those four children did not deserve this kind of pain. I can't let this kind of pe–."

"Four?"

Detective Fukuchi looked at her strangely, but nodded.

Strange. From what he knew about Tanaka Yumeto, the man was not the type to change his plans once it was formed. That man was a perfectionist. Something must have happened that forced him to change his plan.

But what was so important that he would sacrifice his crime plan?

"Who was the first to be taken?"

"A Junior High student named Tanaka Ainosuke."

A grin split across her face so suddenly that Detective Fukuchi was taken aback. She just gazed at him coolly, offering no further information. Her gaze followed the man as he walked out of the room and a familiar click that told the door was once again locked reached her ears.

She laughed loudly, twirling around before plopping on the bed.

Taking down Tanaka Yumeto might be easier than she thought it would.

xxx

Yumeto woke up to someone shaking him, not too roughly, but enough to rouse him from his slumber. He stretched a bit before looking around.

Who he saw made him immediately stood up.

"Fukuchi-san!"

"Don't worry, I don't blame you for falling asleep after all night waiting here."

He nodded mutely. Maybe Fukuchi did not mind, but _he_ did. He had wanted to stay vigil by his little brother's bed, wanting to be aware of any change that might happen during the night. He couldn't believe he had fallen asleep.

"Where is Kato?"

"He left last night, saying there's something that he needed to find that is urgent."

"And the boy?"

He shifted his attention to his little brother, who was still sleeping soundly on the bed. Placing his hand on his brother's forehead, he lifted his other hand to his own forehead and paused for a little bit. He withdrew them away as he sighed.

"Well, at least his fever had gone down. I don't know about Kaito-kun though."

The older man nodded rather distractedly.

"I just checked on him. He's still sleeping, so I think he'll be alright."

He watched as a frown appeared on the older man's forehead. "Is there any specific reason you are here, Fukuchi-san?"

"No. I just wanted to see the boy that had caught the attention of two crime planners."

His eyes widened.

Where did this police officer get this information? And, more importantly, Kokusho Akira had taken interest in his little brother as well? How in the world did that woman know about Ainosuke?

"Go back, Sakisaka."

Fukuchi's voice interrupted his frantic musing and he turned his head sharply to stare at the older man.

"You must be tired, staying here all night. The hospital had been instructed to call the police station of anything change to either boys. Come on, you look exhausted."

With a heavy heart and reluctant steps, he followed the other police out of the room. He casted a last glance at his little brother at the door before pulling it close.

And so, he completely missed the twitching of his little brother's hand, or the fluttering of his eyes.

~End of Episode 2~


	13. Episode 3, Part 1

k59: not much to say this time.. so i'll spare you the boring author's note^^~ enjoy the story~

* * *

><p>to AnnReading : Yumeto doesn't have a choice but to leave there, i think.. with Fukuchi there n all.. i'm planning for Masaki to appear again, yes.. i think it was just too weird if he suddenly disappear^^~ thank you XD n thx for reading n commenting^^~<p>

to ollie : i think you mistook the date.. i had just updated the story about a day when u review XD thx for reading n commenting^^~

to JapanGirl0102 : he really should^~^ thx for reading n commenting XD

* * *

><p>Episode 3 Part 1 – 'Brief Reunion'<p>

xxx

xxx

Sayama's heart pound as she got out of her car, hastily locked it and ran into the hospital. Ignoring the surprised looks thrown her way, she dodged the passing people and made a beeline to the room she had spend hours in the night before.

Finally reaching the corridor the room was located, her eyes automatically zoomed in on the two police officers who was leaning against the wall beside the door of the hospital room housing her student.

"Kato-san! Sakisaka-san!"

The two turned to looked at her and simultaneously pushed themselves off the wall. Kato-san looked like he was about to say something, but she didn't pay him any heed. She didn't even slowed down as she ran past them and headed towards the closed door.

"Wait! Sayama-sensei! Fukuchi-san's in –"

Too late. She already threw the door open.

"Ainosuke!"

Her gaze immediately found the lithe, weakened form of her student, seated on the only bed inside. Worried brown orbs assessed the condition of the boy, noticing the slightly shivering body and pale face, before finally locking onto a pair of scared brown orbs.

She let out a shaky, relieved breath before throwing herself forward, quickly engulfing her student in her arms, hugging the boy close. A sob could be heard from the dark head nestled on her shoulder and she felt her heard broke further.

This boy used to be so strong.

She remembered the way his eyes seemed to shine brightly even in the midst of trouble he was in. She remembered the fiery determination that he had shown her even when the situation looked hopeless. She remembered the confidence that radiating from his posture as he worked on the case.

But none of them could be seen in the boy right now. Only a scared little boy was left in his place. She hugged him tighter.

"Oh, Ainosuke."

Seeing him like this had made both her anguish and anger grow. She didn't know why or how or who had caused him to be like this, but she swore to herself, that she would make this boy smile again.

And make whoever responsible for this pay.

"Don't go."

The words were whispered so softly that almost didn't hear it. She pulled away from her student and held him at arm length, staring intently at the tear-stained face. Smiling assuringly, she took a handkerchief and wiped the tears off his face.

"I'm not going anywhere."

To her surprise, Ainosuke shook his head, before speaking in a wobbly voice.

"Not that. The wedding. Don't go."

She blinked in surprise. How did Ainosuke know about that?

"He's been begging me to call and tell you that ever since we got here."

Startled out of her thought, she turned around, only to see Detective Fukuchi sitting on the chair beside Ainosuke's bed.

"Fukuchi-san? Since when are you here?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you!" Kato-san's voice caused her to turn around. "That Fukuchi-san was inside, talking to Ainosuke-kun."

"Ah!" She felt blush rising on her cheeks and quickly tried to take the attention off her. "What wedding are you talking about, Ainosuke?"

Instantly, she could feel the change in atmosphere. It was colder somehow.

"What wedding?" Came the clueless inquire from Kato-san.

She put her hands on his cheeks, guiding his face upwards so that his gaze met hers. "Is it," She swallowed nervously, "the wedding this weekend? In Central Pacific Hotel?"

"What?"

She turned to stare at Fukuchi-san, startled at the surprise and incredulousness she heard in his voice.

Kato-san's voice rang in the room, "Isn't that the wedding we have to guard? The one Minister Washio is going to attend? You are invited, Sayama-sensei?"

"The bride was my college friend." She answered distractedly. "How do you know about that, Ainosuke?"

Ainosuke just shook his head lightly, biting his bottom lips as it quivered with barely repressed sob. He merely repeated his plea once more. "Don't go."

She turned to look at the others in the room, hoping to get some form of help. Sakisaka-san could only shrug at her, smiling apologetically. Kato-san shook his head briefly, before returning his gaze towards the boy on the bed. She smiled when she noticed his gaze softened considerably.

Fukuchi-san though, was staring at Ainosuke intently, like he was trying to solve an extremely difficult puzzle. She blinked when he abruptly stood up, catching the attention of the rest in the room.

"I need to talk to someone. Kato."

"Ah, yes?"

"Look for a safe place for him to stay in after he got released."

Three pairs of eyes widened at the small show of care that the usually stoic police had shown. Kato-san's reply was a rather distracted "Yes, Fukuchi-san."

A quick nod and just like that he walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" She managed in a slightly dazed voice.

"I really have no idea." Came the equally dazed response from Kato-san.

She sighed and turned her attention back to her student, frowning when she noticed the glazed quality of his eyes and how his face pinched with exhaustion.

"Ainosuke?"

Sayama felt a dip on the mattress and, looking sideways, saw that Kato-san had taken a seat on the other side of the bed. Sakisaka-san was lingering behind him, staring in concern at the boy.

"I think you should go back to sleep, Ainosuke-kun. Or lay down at least. You look as if you're about to keel over any time soon."

She nodded, agreeing with Kato-san and started to help Ainosuke to lie back down. The compliance that the boy displayed did not help her worry. She was so used to the boy protesting loudly and trying to fight back that his silence was met with concerned looks.

"Ainosuke? Do you want us to stay here with you for a while?"

Getting no response from the boy really did not help alienating her worry one bit. Ainosuke did not even acknowledge her question, but rather lying quietly on the bed with his eyes closed.

"I think it's better if one of us do. Especially after what happened earlier this morning."

She turned to look questioningly at Sakisaka-san, noticing the concern in his eyes. "What happened?"

"Sakisaka told me earlier, when you were still on your way here," Kato ran a hand through his hair. "It seemed like Sakisaka here and Fukuchi-san were just exiting the room and was about to turn the corner when there was a crash from here."

"We found Tanaka-kun sprawled on the floor and I ran to get a doctor while Fukuchi-san helped him to get back on the bed. We waited until the doctor said that he's doing well, and then Fukuchi-san was very adamant in talking to him. He told me to call the two of you."

She frowned at the information. "Why did Fukuchi-san want to talk to Ainosuke? Say, Ainosuke?"

The boy in question continued to lie still, eyes closed, giving no indication that he had heard. She could not help a small, sad chuckle that escaped her lips.

"Sorry," she smiled slightly at the two police officers. "It's just that, he had done this – ignoring me, I mean – before all this started. It gives me some sort of hope. That the Ainosuke I know is still in there somewhere." She ran her fingers through dark brown locks, smile becoming gentler.

"I'll stay here."

She looked up sharply. "Kato-san?"

The police officer just smiled. "You have to go to work, Sayama-sensei. And Sakisaka, you are already keeping guard from last night until this morning nonstop. You need to rest. I'm sure Fukuchi-san would let us go this time. I still need to look for suitable living arrangement for Ainosuke-kun after all."

"You will call me if anything happens, right?"

"Of course, Sayama-sensei."

"Fine, then." She stood up from the bed, before running her fingers through her student's hair one more time. Smiling softly, she bent down to put a small kiss on his forehead. "Get well soon, alright?"

She pulled back and watched fondly as Sakisaka-san walked forward and patted Ainosuke's head gently. Seemed like Ainosuke had done his charm again, she thought as she shook her head in amusement. The boy had gotten himself another guardian, if the fond expression Sakisaka-san had was any indication.

The reaction he got from Ainosuke though, made her smile to be replaced by a frown.

She observed in confusion – and to be honest she felt a bit envious too – that Sakisaka-san wasn't ignored like she did. Instead, she could see Ainosuke tensed before slowly opening his eyes.

"Rest well, Tanaka-kun." The smile on his face was so gentle that she began to wonder of Sakisaka-san had personally known Ainosuke before this.

She shook her head. It can't be. Either of them would have reacted differently if they did. Focusing back to her surrounding, she looked up just in time to see Ainosuke's reaction to Sakisaka-san's words.

What she saw rendered her speechless.

Ainosuke seemed to look longingly at Sakisaka-san, before biting back a sob and turning to curl up under the blankets. Sakisaka-san just smiled sadly at the display and pulled back.

"I'll take my leave then, Kato-san, Sayama-sensei."

She nodded mutely, her gaze following the police officer until he disappeared behind the door. She shared bewildered looks with Kato-san, who looked just as surprised by the turn of event as she was.

Shaking her head slightly, she waved to her friend before following Sakisaka-san's path.

It was not only Fukuchi-san who acted strangely.

Ainosuke and Sakisaka-san did as well.

xxx

Detective Fukuchi wasted no time in hurrying to the police station and to the most guarded prison cell available there. His mind was on full steam. What with the information he had gotten from both Kokusho Akira and Tanaka Ainosuke. There was something, however, that he bothered him.

And he was going to get the answer, he determined as he stood once again in front of the ex-crime planner.

"Ah, Fukuchi-san. It is unusual for you to visit this early. What do I do to deserve such honor?"

"Tanaka Ainosuke. Who is he?"

"Oh? So straight forward, not wanting to waste any time, are you?"

The corner of his mouth twitched in annoyance. "Answer me!"

He watched with little patience as Kokusho turned around and sat down on the bed, smirking lightly.

"Now wouldn't I like to know that as well?"

"Do you take me for a fool? I know you know who he is from your reaction to his name alone last night."

"I have my suspicions."

"And they are?"

"For me to know and for you to find out."

"Yes, from you."

"In time."

He resisted the urge to punch something and scowled angrily as the ex-crime planner smirked at him smugly. He swiftly turned around, knowing that there was nothing that he could do about it. For now, he would concentrate in the upcoming case.

xxx

Kato sighed tiredly as he patrolled the hallway in the Central Pacific Hotel. Though he was working right now, his mind couldn't help but wandered back to Ainosuke-kun.

But who could blame him, really. After what happened to that child, everyone would be worried.

Yesterday, he remained on the boy's side until he had fallen asleep, which to be honest did not take much time at all. He had, at first, tried to get the boy to talk but to no avail. Ainosuke-kun kept silent and after a few minutes of trying, he had given up and instead waited quietly.

He spent the rest of the day sitting on his table at the police office, researching about rented room available around Tokyo, preferably one that was quite close to either his or Sayama-sensei's houses. So far no such luck though.

"Kato-san!"

Turned around at the familiar voice, he saw Sayama-sensei briefly talked to a short-haired woman, before walking towards him. He gulped when the woman stared at him weirdly before heading towards the reception room.

"What's wrong with your friend?"

She waved it off. "Chie? Don't worry about her. She was just annoyed that I bought this dress."

"Ah! I understand her reason. I have a feeling that's not it though." He whispered the last sentence to himself.

"Yesterday, did anything happen? With Ainosuke, I mean."

He mocked a hurt look. "I promised I'd call if something happen, didn't I? What? Have you no faith in me?"

Sayama-sensei merely rolled her eyes and gave him a look.

Grinning sheepishly, he lifted his hands in a surrender gesture. "Nothing unusual happened. I left after he fell asleep and went to visit him again last night. I don't have time to visit him this morning. Been here since 5."

The school nurse looked even more worried. "I did, just before I came here. He panicked when he saw me all dressed up like this, you know."

That caught his attention. He crossed his arms subconsciously. "Why? What happened?"

"He begged me not to come here, said something about it being dangerous. When I asked how he knew that and what he meant exactly, he just shook his head and continued to say not to come."

He grimaced in sympathy as he watched his friend rubbed at her temple tiredly. No doubt, she had a hard time calming the currently skittish boy.

"I wonder what really happen to him these three months he'd been gone."

He shifted his legs and regarded the school nurse seriously. "I wondered about that as well. It didn't seem like he was mistreated. None at all he looked as if he was taken hostage for months."

Sayama-sensei bit her lips in slight hesitation. "You know, if I don't know better, I would have said that the terrorists return him to us because Ainosuke was sick and they can't provide him with the necessary care."

He only frowned deeper.

Given, what Sayama-sensei had said did make some sense. But that just can't be right. It would make the situation more complicated, not to mention went against all logic.

The sound of footsteps approaching pulled him out of his musing. Looking up, he noticed the bewildered and astonished look Sayama-sensei was currently supporting and had to frown.

"What's wrong?"

Silently, the school nurse raised a hand and pointed to something behind him. Rising an eyebrow, he gave her a skeptical look, before turning around. And could promptly feel his jaw slacken.

Before them was Fukuchi-san. While that was not unusual, the boy currently walking next to the stoic police officer, on the other hand, was.

"Ainosuke-kun!"


	14. Episode 3, Part 2

k59 : this is the fastest update i've ever done i think.. i feel oddly proud of myself^~^ anyway, enjoy the story XD

* * *

><p>to JapanGirl0102 : it just felt like a good place to end a chapter there^^~ the Tanaka brothers are just so fun to write i can't help it XD thank you~! n thx for reading n commenting XD<p>

to ollie : ah! i don't really get it, but thx for still with me in this^^~ Yumeto's pov.. i don't want to spoil anything if u haven't read this one, but it'll come out in its time XD thx for reading n commenting^^~

* * *

><p>Episode 3 Part 2 – 'Eventful Prelude'<p>

xxx

xxx

Fukuchi rubbed his temple tiredly as he stood a bit to the side, leaning against the wall right next to the closed door, letting the two overly worried adults to take over his young charge.

He would blame the hospital for this mess… and maybe his rapidly softening heart as well to be honest. He didn't know what it was exactly that made him so attached to this young boy, aside from obvious, work related reasons. Maybe, just maybe, it was the way Ainosuke-kun carried himself.

Or, more precisely, the huge difference he could saw about it. The description – not the physical ones – of the boy he had gotten from his subordinates did not exactly match the boy's behavior now.

Ainosuke-kun was now more… compliant. Less likely to run off on his own and was more likely to follow direction.

He didn't know if these were good or bad.

But one thing he knew for certain though: Tanaka Ainosuke was a force to behold, no matter which character he seemed to have in the mean time.

_(Flashback)_

_Fukuchi rapidly walked to the hospital rooms he had been two days ago, right hand loosely gripped Kaito-kun's discharged paper. It was not usually police's job to pick up and get a victim back to his or her house, but this one is an exception. _

_Kaito-kun lived with only his mother and grandmother. With his mother behind the bars now and his grandmother unable to pick him up, not to mention Kaito-kun's illness, he had decided that this once was an exception._

_His mind wandered to the other boy hospitalized here and he ignored the traitorous voice at the back of his mind that was saying only reason he had agreed to take Kaito-kun home was because he had wanted the chance to check on Ainosuke-kun._

_He paused suddenly._

_Since when had he started thinking of Tanaka Ainosuke as Ainosuke-kun?_

_He let out a sigh before resuming his walk, deciding that Kato and Sayama-sensei were responsible for that. The two of them called the boy Ainosuke-kun after all._

_Sliding the door open, he stopped for the second time, but now it was because the one he was supposed to meet was not there. Eye twitching with annoyance, he closed the door harder than necessary and was about to complain to the receptionist when a hushed conversation reached his ears._

_"I really don't think it's a very good idea."_

_He frowned at Ainosuke-kun's quiet voice and silently walked closer to the closed door, just in time to hear someone sighed tiredly and an unfamiliar voice replied._

_"Then what are you going to do?"_

_A beat of silence passed before Ainosuke-kun answered._

_"I don't know. That's why I asked you…?"_

_Another tired sigh._

_"You didn't want to stay here and you didn't want to sneak out either. There's only two options to this, Ainosuke-kun."_

_"But, Masaki-kun, can't you take me there?_

_He didn't have to see Kaito-kun's – for it has to be him in there with Ainosuke-kun – face to see that the boy was staring at Ainosuke-kun incredulously._

_"I can't sign you out of here, Ainosuke-kun. You will need an adult for that. How about Sayama-sensei?"_

_"I don't think she will, with how I acted this morning. She'll be too worried to even consider saying yes."_

_A pause there and he raised an eyebrow. What happened this morning between Ainosuke-kun and Sayama-sensei? It seemed though, that Kaito-kun asked that for him._

_"What did you do?"_

_"I… kind of broke down in front of her."_

_Another beat of silence._

_"Just stay here and rest. You still have a fever, you know."_

_"But–!"_

_"There's really nothing else you can do, right? You should concentrate on getting better."_

_This time the silence stretched longer than those before._

_"I may be able to help them there…"_

_Fukuchi frowned deeper when he heard that. Deciding that he had heard enough, he slid the door open, catching the two students off guard, and entered._

_"Fukuchi-san…?"_

_He averted his gaze to the one who had called him hesitantly and for the first time, he saw the feeling of helplessness that was shining in the boy's eyes._

_"What do you mean by that, Ainosuke-kun?"_

_The boy on the bed started fidgeting, his fingers picking the edge of the blanket pooling on his lap. Realizing that he had the boy even more nervous-wreck, he turned his attention to the other boy in the room, sitting on the chair beside the bed._

_"Kaito-kun, why aren't you waiting in your room?"_

_The called boy started. "Eh? Oh, Ainosuke came there. Then, I thought that's it's better for me to come here so he could rest."_

_He nodded at the acceptable reason. "Then? What were you discussing about?"_

_"Please…"_

_Both his and Kaito-kun's attention averted to the boy sitting on the bed. The boy himself looked at him pleadingly, biting his lower lip which seemed to tremble slightly._

_"Please… Will you take me to Central Pacific Hotel?"_

_He kept a stoic face in front of them, no matter what he felt. "Why?"_

_The boy shook his head, clearly distressed. "I – I can't…"_

_"Seriously you two!"_

_The loud voice from the door gathered all of their attention. Fukuchi turned his head to see an exasperated looking nurse making her way to the bedside before forcefully dragging him and Kaito-kun away and out of the room. _

_"Stop aggravating the patient!"_

_He was still in a bit of a daze when the door was closed in front of his face. Scowling in annoyance, he gestured to the boy beside him to settle beside the door, waiting until the nurse was done. A few moments passed until a doctor came, nodded at them and walked into the room._

_A few minutes in silence and the door opened once again. The nurse seemed to give them a dirty look before storming off. The doctor just smiled at her antic and walked towards them._

_"Are you Tanaka Ainosukes' guardian?"_

_He pushed himself off the wall. "One of them, yes."_

_"Something seems to be bothering him badly and it cannot be good for his condition. He may have a relapse because of it. His fever had already increased from it was this morning."_

_A frown found its way back to his face. "So what do you suggest?"_

_"Make him feel more relaxed will be the best. Maybe taking care of what got him this anxious?"_

_"To do that will include taking him out of the hospital."_

_The doctor seemed thoughtful before nodded in acceptance. "Just get him back here before 9 tonight. I'll get you the clothes he wore when he was admitted here."_

_Fukuchi nodded as the doctor bowed his head at him. As the doctor walked away he turned to the student next to him. "I'll get you to your house before heading to the Central Pacific Hotel."_

_Kaito-kun nodded and followed him back into the room. Walking in, he noticed that Ainosuke-kun was now lying down instead of sitting like before, most likely doctor's order. Brown eyes immediately sought him out, their gaze pleading without words._

_"The doctor gave you permission to go out."_

_The same pair of eyes blinked questioningly at him._

_"We'll just have to wait for them to bring your clothes, then we'll escort Kaito-kun to his home. After that, we'll head for Central Pacific Hotel."_

_The gratefulness radiating from Ainosuke-kun's expression, somehow, did not make him feel at ease._

_(End of Flashback)_

Sighing once again, he pushed off the wall and was about to made his way over when the door opened, a police officer bowing to him in greeting.

"Fukuchi-san, all the guests have arrived and checked. Minister Washio has also settled in the Reception room."

He nodded, acknowledging him. "Thanks for the report, Sakisaka."

Something seemed to have caught the young policeman in front of him and he had a good guess of what – or more precisely whom – that might be. True to his prediction, his gaze followed the younger's line of vision to see Ainosuke-kun stared them with wide eyes.

The boy kept staring for a few seconds, before seemingly got out of his daze and gave a little bow, to which Sakisaka returned. The young police officer then turned to him in confusion.

"Why is Tanaka-kun here, Fukuchi-san?"

"Doctor's order," was his concise reply. He spun around and headed to the door, throwing the trio one last look before exiting, barely aware that Sakisaka followed him out.

It was high time that he did his job.

xxx

Ainosuke kept looking back to Kato-san as he was dragged by Sayama-sensei, silently asking the police officer to talk some sense into her.

"Sayama-sensei, I don't think I should sit in there with you. I'm not invited." He tried to plead, tugging at the hand holding his wrist.

"And I told you it's fine! Don't worry, don't worry."

He sent another pleading glance at Kato-san, who finally relented and moved to black her path.

"What are you doing, Kato-san? Move away!"

"No, I think Ainosuke-kun is right, you know. Let him rest in the waiting room."

"But he needs to eat!"

"I'll buy him something for lunch."

"What if he's tired and need to rest?"

"Isn't it better that he'll be in the waiting room, then?"

"What if he's bored?"

"Then he can rest, right?"

"But then he'll be alone!"

"So as long as there's someone with him all the time you have no complaint?"

Hand still trapped by his school nurse, Ainosuke just settled on watching how this turn out. He tried to tug his hand out of her grasp, but instead of loosening, the grip became tighter. He swallowed down the whine that threatened to come out.

"It's just. I'm worried."

He started when the school nurse suddenly rounded on him, taking both of his hands into hers.

"Promise me you won't look for trouble."

He stared, surprised at the abrupt turn in conversation.

"I… I promise…"

The eyes looking into his went misty and before he knew it, he was drawn into a hug by Sayama-sensei. As abruptly as it had started, it ended. His gaze followed his school nurse as she exchange a look with Kato-san before she walked off to the reception room.

A sigh from his side and he turned towards his other guardian.

"Come on, let's get you settled before Sayama-sensei decided that she didn't believe me and storm right back out."

He managed a tiny smile for that.

Kato-san, clearly pleased with himself, grinned back at him and started to lead him away and back into the waiting room. The two of them walked in silence, although he noticed that Kato-san had made a point to walk slower than normal, a gesture that he deeply appreciated.

Entering the room one again, he stumbled onto the many sofas lining the room and immediately curled up on it. Now that he finally able to let his body relax, he realized just how much strain his trip had caused him. Even when he had done nothing strenuous, he was ready to collapse anytime soon.

"You alright?"

He looked up to see Kato-san hovering worriedly over him. A cool hand settled on his forehead and he leaned onto it, savoring the coolness of the touch. His eyes felt heavier by the seconds and he gave in, closing them as the hand started to withdraw.

"Your temperature is still far too warm than I would have liked."

"I'll be fine," he mumbled, opening his eyes to look up at the police officer and offered him a small smile.

Kato-san frowned and didn't quite look as if he believed him, but let it go. "I'll get you something to eat then. Anything you'd like to have?"

He shook his head in negative, gaining a sigh from the older man.

"I'll buy you something light then."

Kato-san was already at the door when he remembered that he had forgotten to tell Fukuchi-san about the pork he saw yesterday morning. His mind had been filled with worried over how to get here and how to act around his brother.

He pushed himself off the sofa hurriedly and promptly lost his footing.

And went straight onto the carpeted floor.

Somehow, he could still hear Kato-san shouted in alarm as he lied there, attempting to regain his breath. It hitched though, the moment he felt the now familiar sensation of pictures flashed in front of his eye.

Still dazed and slightly dizzy, he was barely aware that Kato-san had lifted and lied him back down onto the sofa. He blinked a few times, turning his head slowly to where Kato-san was frantically calling his name. Hands were on his shoulders, squeezing lightly.

"Ainosuke-kun? Can you hear me? You really shouldn't stand up so suddenly like that, you haven't recovered! Are you –"

"Kato-san?"

The police officer stopped abruptly. He raised his hand to clutch Kato-san's coat sleeve.

"Who is Taira Kouzou-san?"

He decided that he didn't like the frown that Kato-san had on his face.

"Why do you want to know, Ainosuke-kun?"

Biting his lip in a moment of indecision, he ducked his head.

"I think…" he looked up to look at the man he had come to see as a guardian, face pinched in worry. "I think he's somewhat involved with this wedding."

The frown on Kato-san's face became deeper and he could feel his heart thumped heavily in his chest.

"I'll look it up, okay? You just rest and don't worry, I'll look into it myself."

Relieved that he had not been dismissed, he gave a slight smile and settled back down. The police officer gave his head a pat before standing up and turned to leave.

Just as the man reached the door though, he called him once more.

"Kato-san?" He waited until he had his full attention. "Check the pork too."

The expression Kato-san had on would have been comical if not for the many dreads and worries he was feeling.


	15. Episode 3, Part 3

k59: i rather like this pace^^~ let's hope i can maintain it for a long time XD this chapter will be quite different from canon, though that's all i'm going to say.. you'll have to read it to know what i'm talking about^^~ enjoy the story~!

* * *

><p>to ollie: no, you don't have to.. but i have to admit that i really appreciate ur comment n am happy to receive it^^~ i really did update faster.. i'm trying to actually XD thx for reading n commenting^^~<p>

to fortuneliz: uhm, do you mean furious or curious? but i'm sorry either way.. i'm glad u like it though^^~ thx for reading n commenting XD

to JapanGirl0102: XD thx for reading n commenting^^~

* * *

><p>Episode 3 Part 3 – 'Wedding Disaster'<p>

xxx

xxx

Silently creeping along the corridor like this, Yumeto can't help but feel like a criminal. Well technically he was, but it's the sentiment that was counted.

He hid a grin as he noticed the other police officer had succeeded in distracting the SP guard away from the Minister. He needed to remember to thank Yoshida later for the fake bomb. There was a lot of smoke and a loud boom, but that was it really.

That was enough of a disturbance for his plan though.

Giving himself a mental pat on his shoulder, he reached for the handle of a door and slowly pushed it downwards, careful to not cause any noises. He gave a sigh of relief when the door opened without so much as a creak and quickly closed the door behind him.

He just needed to do this really, really fast.

Taking notice of the boy curled up on one of the sofa, he made to move towards him, eyes resting for a moment at the lunch box and a plastic cup of hot drink resting on the table nearby. He couldn't help but smile when he read Kato-san note to his brother to eat and rest some more.

His knees made contact with the carpeted floor as he kneeled beside his brother's head. He rested his palm on the younger's forehead, frowning as he took note of the still quite high temperature.

He looked fondly at his little brother, smiling a tad sadly. His hand moved to rest on his brother's head, caressing the dark brown locks.

"Why are you here, Ainosuke?"

His brother stirred slightly, giving a small whine before settling back. He chuckled and moved to sit on the sofa, beside the still slumbering boy.

"How you managed to get your way here without sneaking out is beyond me, but… You shouldn't be here. The situation would only get uglier from this on. I was hoping that you wouldn't get caught in this, but it seems that it's quite impossible now."

He smiled sadly and leaned down to plant a kiss on his brother's forehead.

"Just what am I going to do with you?"

"What, indeed."

He started and immediately stood up, turning around to face where the voice had originated, meeting face to face with none other than the stoic police officer, Detective Fukuchi Yuya.

His eyes followed the man in front of him who closed the door before taking a couple of steps towards him. He cursed under his breath. He should not have let his guard down, especially in the mist of crime like this. Now he had to deal with this.

And from the look Fukuchi-san gave him, he was not going to get out of this easily.

"You are not the only one who could open a door soundlessly."

Knowing that pulling his mask back on would be useless now, he dropped it altogether.

"I'll keep that in mind. How long have you been there?"

"Enough."

"You know, I don't think eavesdropping on your subordinate would make a good example for those who work under you, Detective Fukuchi."

"Not if that subordinate was acting suspicious. Though I must admit, this is purely coincidental."

He hummed in response, mentally going through every scenario available with this incident happening. This could give him either a huge disadvantage or a great advantage with his plan, but it was all depend on Detective Fukuchi. Or, to be more truthful – he sneaked a glance at his oblivious brother – it all depended on the boy beside him.

If play this right, it could make his life easier

"You know him."

It was more of an observation than a question he observed, as he turned to face the police officer again. He allowed a little smile to light his face.

"You can say that."

Though saying 'know Ainosuke' would be a big understatement. He had been looking after him ever since the younger was born, practically raising him since he himself was only 18.

"Yet the both of you act as if you don't know each other."

He had to smother his chuckle. If Fukuchi-san had not been in such hurry that morning, he would not have said that. He had to admit that Ainosuke was not that good of an actor. Especially when he was around and he younger was not in the best on health.

"Do we really?"

For a while, neither of them said anything.

"Who are you to him, Sakisaka?"

He raised an eyebrow at the more specific question as to his real identity. It was quite amusing how the older man had asked his relationship with Ainosuke instead of just asking who he really was.

Humming once more, he crossed his arms, looking as if contemplating his answer.

"I'm not sure myself."

He was about to elaborate further when a high pitched scream interrupted him. Both him and Fukuchi-san tensed and were about to run out of the room when a gasp caused them to look back.

It looked like his sentence was not the only thing that the scream had interrupted. His brother's sleep had as well.

The kid was looking around wildly, searching for what had woken him. Instead, his eyes locked with those of his older brother.

Yumeto kept staring as the younger's eyes widened, the scream now forgotten. His brother scrambled to sit up. A bit too quickly in his opinion, as he saw Ainosuke seemed to sway unsteadily even when sitting. His brother seemed to freeze though, when he caught sight of the man standing behind him.

"What…?"

No one seemed to be inclined to make any noise after Ainosuke's unfinished question.

For whatever reason, Yumeto couldn't seem to decide how to react to this situation. Even if now Fukuchi-san knew that he was somewhat close to Ainosuke, he had not been exactly close, let alone affectionate, to his brother.

At least not when the younger was awake and not delirious.

"You can stop acting, Ainosuke-kun."

He watched quietly as his brother started and set his eyes on Fukuchi-san, before he himself turned to do the same.

"I know you know Sakisaka here, whoever he is to you."

Feeling his brother's gaze on him, he turned back. Only to have himself pinned with his brother's confused yet hopeful stare.

"Go back to sleep, Ainosuke," he finally said, and nearly cursed loudly when his brother's face scrunched up in attempt to held back tears.

He felt his decision wavered.

Why did Ainosuke have to stare at him like that? Didn't he know that it was hard enough to keep himself from coddling him without that stare? Especially so when the younger seemed to be biting his lips to try to stop them from trembling so much. And those tears seemed to be very close from falling…

Oh for goodness sake!

He let out a mighty sigh before setting himself down on the sofa, in front of his brother. He smiled lightly at his brother hopeful expression.

"Hey."

There was a chocked sob before a small body barreled against him and arms went around his torso. His own arms wrapped around his little brother, he pulled him closer and began to rock him.

"I meant it, you know," he whispered, one hand going to caress his brother's hair. "You should go back to sleep and sleep off that fever of yours."

There was no answer, not even a nod or a shake of the head. Frowning, he pulled away slightly and was surprised when he received no complain.

"Ainosuke?"

He peered at his brother face and had to snort.

"Only you can fall asleep this fast. But…" He put a hand on his brother's fore head. "I think that fever plays a part in it too."

He pried his brother's grip off his uniform and carefully laid him back down. A thin blanket was offered to him and he looked up, surprised, to find Fukuchi-san holding it out to him. He didn't notice it before.

"My reason coming here."

He nodded mutely and took the blanket, spreading it on top of his now sleeping brother.

The rather serene atmosphere that had formed was interrupted with a soft buzzing sound. He looked up to see Fukuchi-san pulled out his phone and frowned when he read what was written. The older man shot him a stern look.

"I don't know who you are to him, but right now you are a police officer. Duty calls. Go to the reception hall and help the others to secure the area, reconfirm the guests' identities and let no one leave."

He instantly stood up and saluted the older man. Fukuchi-san simply nodded at him before walking off and out of the room. Casting a last glance at his brother, he hurried off, letting a smile graced his lips as soon as he was out of the room.

That went better than he had dared to hope.

xxx

Kato paced hurriedly towards Fukuchi-san as he saw his superior officer came into the room from where ever the older man had disappeared to beforehand.

"What exactly happened?"

The older police demanded as they stood at the scene of the crime. He grimaced lightly.

"Me and a few more police hurried here when we saw the scream. We found the groom lying there, bleeding heavily and unconscious," he pointed to the chalk mark. Blood stain could still be seen clearly.

"Sayama-sensei, the groom's father, the bride and one of the event organizers were here too. We called the ambulance while Sayama-sensei attempted to slow down the bleeding. Both the groom and the bride are supposed to be in the way to hospital right now."

Fukuchi-san scanned the area around them. A few police officers were still there, looking for more evidences.

"Anything found related to the attempted murder?"

Grimacing slightly, he showed Fukuchi-san the voice recorder he had found beside the bleeding man earlier.

"This."

He pressed the play button.

"_No! Don't kill me! I'll turn myself in! I swear I'll tell the truth! Aaarrgghhh!"_

Neither of them spoke anything a few seconds after the recording ended. During which, he put the recorder back into the plastic bag and passed it to the forensic team for fingerprint checking.

"There is no other recording beside that?"

He shook his head negative. "That's the only one."

"Which is practically useless, unless there's fingerprint on the recorder."

He could only nod his head dejectedly, already knew that the moment he heard the recoding the first time round. Though he had to admit, he was wondering who had left it here, in the first place. Was it the victim or the suspect?

It could be the victim attempting to tell who the attacker was. The problem with that was the victim did not even mention the attacker's name when it was obvious he knew his attacker's identity with how he reacted.

If it was the suspect, then… What could possibly that person wanted to achieve by leaving the recorder there? And why was he saying he would turn himself in?

He groaned. Thinking about it only gave him headache.

"There's nothing we could do here. Let's go to the reception room."

Starting at his superior officer's sudden order, he nodded in affirmation and followed him out of the room. They would need to conduct a thorough investigation.

There is still the fact that the weapon – knife most possibly – that the attacker had used was absent from the crime scene.

xxx

Something had woken him up again. There was a loud creak and the sounds of someone hurriedly walk passed him. He opened his eyes blearily, confused at what was happening. Then it came back to him.

His brother had been here earlier. The knowledge brought a bittersweet smile on his face.

He remembered waking up with his brother and Fukuchi-san in the room, both looked rather tense. Then Fukuchi-san had told him to stop acting. And for a while there, even after hesitating on his brother part, he had gotten his big brother back.

Then he had fallen straight back to sleep.

He pushed himself up, blinking in confusion when he felt something slid down his arm and back. He ran his hand through the fabric of the blanket covering him in wonder. Looking up, he found the meal Kato-san had bought him, smiling at the note. He needed to thank him later.

Remembering where he was, he looked around, only to be disappointed when he saw no one was there.

Maybe he got his hopes up too much, but his brother had been less distant with him when he was awake earlier. He couldn't help it.

His musing was interrupted when the sounds of rushing footsteps reached his ears again. He watched with confusion when an unfamiliar man walked from further inside the room and out through the door, seemingly unaware of his presence.

What had caused him to react that badly?

He frowned and stood up slowly, learning from his previous mistake. He still wobbled slightly on his feet despite his effort though. He took the plastic cup and lifted the lid, smiling when the sweet aroma of tea hit his nostril.

Sipping the hot tea slowly, he managed to walk quite steadily around and began to look for whatever it was that got that man so panicked.

White against red and his gaze was drawn to it. Walking closer, it found that it was a slip of paper.

A slip of paper with something written to it.

He walked slowly towards it and picked it up, frowning when he read what was written.

'I'm waiting in the air conditioning room.'

It sounded quite normal to him. But it certainly didn't to that man he saw earlier.

He bit his lip, weighing his options carefully. He was told to rest, but he had that plenty already in his opinion. He had done nothing but sleeping since arriving here after all. And this certainly was more important than his rest.

Finally deciding his further action, he pocketed the slip of paper and headed to the door.


	16. Episode 3, Part 4

k59: this took 2 weeks.. but the result of my exam was near n i can't concentrate for days because of it.. when it's out n i know how i did, then i can concentrate back to this^^ that n i become excited that the sequel for one of my favorite story was finally up XD ! it's a Chronicle of Narnia fanfic.. any of you like Edmund? if you do, you may wanna check out **Letting Go** by **Lirenel**.. it is an awesome story^^~ the sequel, **Under a Swift Sunrise**, is being updated daily^~^! i'm so excited for it XD!

* * *

><p>to ollie: thx for the thought^^~ i'm glad u find it interesting XD thx for reading n commenting^^~<p>

to JapanGirl0102: i try to^^~ if nothing's going on here, i'll update faster XD thx for reading n commenting

to fortuneliz: another story like this...? maybe not multi chapter.. i'm already struggling as it is with 2 multi chapter (^_^;).. one-shots maybe XD thx for reading n commenting~!

to irene1322: glad u like it^^~ i can't speak Italian, sorry.. a bit of German may be.. thx for reading n commenting~! XD

* * *

><p>Episode 3 Part 4 – 'The Weapon of Choice'<p>

xxx

xxx

Fukuchi had to admit that this case was frustrating.

All the guests and hotel stuffs had undergo a second body check, but no one seemed to have anything that even resembled a weapon in their possessions. Neither were there abnormalities in any other rooms and potential weapons. It was simply dead ends everywhere.

It had seemed as if they would finally had a breakthrough when Sakisaka pointed out that the minister had been the only one hadn't gone through the compulsory body check. The bloody knife had seemed to be a pretty solid evidence as well.

That was, until Sayama-sensei gave the minister a solid alibi on top of it.

"This," Kato's voice cut through his musing. "Could this blood not be human blood?"

Fukuchi frowned at that. "I think it was a given, Kato."

"No! I mean," Kato leveled him with a strangely apprehensive stare, "could it be that this blood is pig blood?"

He stared at Kato, aware of many other who were doing the same thing. The younger police officer seemed flustered that what he said had caused total silence around them.

"How do you come to that conclusion?"

Kato looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Some… one… gave me a little bit of a tip."

Ainosuke.

Just how did that boy get that information? First those drawings in the kidnapping cases, then the warning he gave about this wedding being dangerous, and now this pig blood!

"Ask the forensic team to check it!"

Kato gave him a salute before giving the knife to other police to pass it.

"Now what?"

He raised an eyebrow as Sayama-sensei confronted his subordinate, seemingly agitated and had raised the other eyebrow when Kato acted just as agitated as her.

"Now, we continue to search for any other things that may hint to who the culprit is."

"I don't like this. Ainosuke is already involved in too many cases as it is."

"I know, but there's nothing I can do now."

He gave a rue, small smile. Of course she was thinking about Ainosuke. To be honest, the same thought had crossed his mind. And he had the feeling that the boy would be involved in even more cases.

Letting that thought rest for now, he turned to the other police officer loitering in the room.

"Is everyone directly involved with the wedding here?"

The police officer shook his head. "The groom's father is not here. He mentioned about meeting someone before he want out somewhere."

He frowned, "Anyone knows where he went to? It's dangerous to go alone without supervisor if the culprit is still unkown."

"Excuse me, if it's about Masuda-sama…"

He turned towards the female event organizer, gesturing for her to continue. Movement at his side and he took note of Kato, Sayama-sensei and Sakisaka walked closer to them.

"He went to meet a guest who asked for him. Taira-san, if I'm correct."

"Taira?!"

A voice exclaimed together with him made him quickly turn to the speaker, finding Kato looked at him with equally surprised eyes.

"Do the two of you really have to shout?"

Sayama-sensei was rubbing her left ear which Kato had all but shouted to earlier. Kato turned to her in panic.

"No, you don't understand. Ainosuke-kun asked me about him earlier and I promised him that I'd–"

Fukuchi felt dread filled him at Kato's words. Kokusho Akira he understood, as she had seen what was inside that laptop. But Ainosuke-kun? Just how did that boy…?

"Ainosuke-kun asked you about Taira?"

He sighed in frustration when Kato nodded hesitantly at him. Another thing that Ainosuke had somewhat known before it happens. He turned back to the female event organizer.

"Do you know where he went to meet him?"

"In the waiting room."

It was in that moment that he felt that he completely understood the phrase 'And then there was silence.'

His eyes widened and even without looking he knew that there were three other who felt just as worried as he was feeling right now. He was very sure that the four of them had thought of the same thing that instance.

Ainosuke-kun!

He exchange glances with Kato, who seemed to have just did the same with Sayama-sensei. He looked at Sakisaka, to find the man's face had drained of color, looking extremely worried.

And just like that, the four of them ran out of the room.

xxx

Ainosuke pouted as he looked around, a little frown on his fore head, hands gripping the warm drink closely.

Why was this hotel so big? And he couldn't find any clue for direction!

He let out a frustrated sigh. His feet were tired from walking around, trying to find either the air condition room or Kato-san. Whichever one he found first.

Contemplating for a bit, he finally decided to take the right corridor, hoping that he would find someone to ask for direction at least.

And find someone he did. But it was someone he had not expected to see at all.

"Yoshida-san?"

The man in front of him widened his eyes. Yoshida-san was wearing a cleaning service uniform and looked just as surprised as him.

"Ainosuke-kun? Why are you here?"

"I… Fukuchi-san…"

He blinked as the older man was suddenly right in front of him, frowning slightly. Then, a hand was placed on his forehead.

"Just as I thought. Still warm."

A pout found its way again on his lips. "I'm recovering."

The older man agreed easily. "Yes, but not yet recovered."

He blinked before wrapping his arms around the man. A pair of arms wrapped around him, pulling him further into the embrace. He smiled as he settled himself in the arms of the man he had missed.

"I'm getting there," he murmured into the man's chest.

He felt himself being pushed away and looked questioningly at the older man. Yoshida-san just smiled at him.

"But not there enough to wander around like this."

"Maybe…?" He avoided eye contact, making move to sip his tea when he remembered something. "Yoshida-san, how is Rin?"

The older man raised an eyebrow at his question. "How you manage to tame that ball of fur is beyond me, Ainosuke-kun. He's fine, but very handful. Now, stop trying to change the subject, why are you here?"

He sighed. "I'm lost."

"That's not what I'm exactly asking, but fine. Where are you going?"

"I'm looking for Kato-san."

"The police officer?"

His eye widened. "You know him?"

He stared as his previous caretaker sighed and crossed his arms. "I know of him. So, you looked for him until here? Where do you start from?"

"The waiting room."

Yoshida-san blinked then stared at him, and he felt like he had done something incredibly stupid. "Isn't there should be a lot of police officer around there because of the attack earlier? Why do you need to walk so far?"

He shrugged helplessly. "How come you are here, Yoshida-san?"

The older man smiled and he couldn't help but think that he looked more amused at the situation by the seconds. "Just working."

He blinked at that. Yoshida-san worked here? Since when?

A sound of rapid footsteps could be heard from behind him and he turned around, frowning.

"I think that's my cue to go."

His eyes widened and he quickly turned around. He looked at the older man questioningly, to which Yoshida-san only smiled gently at him. A gentle pat on his head was all that he received before the man turned around and walked away, seemingly ignorant of him as he whistle a cheery tune.

"Ainosuke!"

He jumped at the loud voice. Turning around, he only managed to catch at glimpse of beige before he was engulfed into a hug. Before he could react to that, he was pushed away and held by the shoulders by a very irate school nurse.

"Sayama-sensei?"

"Don't do that again! Do you know how worried we've been when you weren't there?! Seriously, Ainosuke, you aren't well! Can't you please just listen to us and take care of yourself more?!"

Looking at his distressed teacher, he felt guilt filled his heart. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Sayama-sensei sent a watery smile at him. "I know that. But next ti–"

"Ah! Sayama-sensei! You found him!"

Both of them stared as Kato-san beckoned to someone before walking towards them, looking extremely relieved. Seeing the man struggled to catch his breath, his guilt grew. A second later, Fukuchi-san and his brother – his eyes widened involuntarily – came from the left hallway and walked rapidly towards them.

Fukuchi-san gave him an assessing look, letting out a sigh. "At least you're alright."

"Why are you walking around like this?"

At Kato-san's question, he remembered about what he had in mind when leaving. He fumbled, searching for the piece of paper he had put in his pocket. Finding it, he offered it to Kato-san, who took and read it, before looking at him in confusion.

"I found it on the floor further into the room after someone left the room in panic. I thought I should give it to the police so I went looking for you."

Kato-san raised an eyebrow. "Until here?"

He couldn't help but flushed. "I got lost."

He hadn't been walking around that long. Right?

The police officer shook his head in disbelief, before reading the note he had just given him. Ainosuke watched in confusion when Kato-san frowned and gave the paper to Fukuchi-san, who had the same reaction as his subordinate. When Fukuchi-san absentmindedly gave the note to his brother, eyes locked into him, he had the feeling that he was in a deeper trouble than before.

"How that someone looked like?"

He stared. That was not the question he had expected.

"A middle aged man. Wearing formal suit."

He bit his lip as the others seemed to be exchanges glances with one another, looking rather uncertain. A sound of someone clearing his throat had him staring at Kato-san.

"That may be the best lead that we have right now, Fukuchi-san."

He averted his gaze just in time to see Fukuchi-san nodded in agreement. The police officer turned to his brother, looking deadly serious, even more than usual.

"Sakisaka, go back to the dining room and sent some polices to the air condition room. Kato, you go with me there now. Sayama-sensei…"

The man trailed off for a bit as he looked towards his worried teacher. He was surprised when the gaze shifted to him for a second before it was back to the school nurse.

"Drive him back to the hospital."

His eyes widened. Beside him, his teacher nodded. He felt her hand gripping his forearm gently and quickly started panicking.

"No!"

He was too far into his panic state to notice that the four were stunned by his sudden outburst. All he knew was that he couldn't go back yet. There was still something to this. He could feel it, and…

"You've done enough, Ainosuke-kun. Leave the rest to the police."

He turned to look at Fukuchi-san, expression pleading silently. This time however, it seemed that the man had chosen to ignore him.

"Sakisaka, go now. Let's go, Kato!"

His eyes followed his brother as the older ran to do as he was ordered to. Knowing that there was no point in protesting further, he could only watched the other two police officers turned and walked away.

A gasp beside him and he turned to face his school nurse. "Sayama-sen–"

"Fukuchi-san!"

He blinked at her sudden outburst and the noise of footsteps stopped. His gaze flitted to the two police officers briefly before settling back to her.

"I just remember. I don't have my car here."

Kato-san made some noise of disbelief. "Eh?! How did you come here, then?"

"My apartment is not far from here."

"You went to the hospital before you came here."

"I parked my car first before meeting my friend. I walked here, Kato-san."

"That's enough, the two of you." Fukuchi-san reached into his pocket and tossed her a key, which she caught and stared at in confusion. "Use mine. We'll meet you at the hospital after this case is closed."

Without waiting for any confirmation, Fukuchi-san strolled away, causing Kato-san to hurriedly follow. A tug on his arm had him refocus his attention to his school nurse.

"Come on, let's go."

His answer was a nod. And he let himself be lead away.

xxx

Sayama sneaked a glance at the boy sitting at the passenger seat. He was way too silent that it made her ansty and uneasy. Granted, he was still recovering, both from hisfever and from whatever ordeal he had been in the past months.

Her attempts at conversation had been thwarted quickly when Ainosuke would not give him more than one word answers. So she had let them went back to silence, with nothing but the soft hum of engine could be heard. She was attempted to turn the radio on, just so that the silence was not so palpable. But she had the feeling that neither of them would really appreciate the additional sound.

Stealing another glance, she could make out a little frown that had formed on her student's brow. She cleared her throat nervously.

"What are you thinking?"

"Stuffs."

"What kind of stuffs?"

"Nothing."

"It can't be nothing if it got you frowning like that."

The boy only shrugged this time. She sighed tiredly. This was getting nowhere. They were going in circle. Every time she thought that maybe she would get some response from Ainosuke, he would closed off again.

But she won't give up.

"Can you still see things with your left eye?"

Silence greeted her and she frowned in confusion. Looking sideways for a moment, her confusion grew when she saw Ainosuke looked tense and unease. What had she done wrong?

"Ainosuke?"

It was a few more seconds before the boy nodded hesitantly.

She hummed while going through the though in her mind. The last time, Ainosuke had used his left eye to try solving his brother's death. Some way or another, though, he had ended up involved in the case of bank robbery and later terrorist attack. Which later proved to be faked.

All had been a ploy to get that laptop Ainosuke had managed to protect.

Kato-san had secretly told her that the laptop belonged to the cleverest crime planner in this modern day. And seeing how complicated the chains of crimes had been, she found it relatively easy to believe.

But Ainosuke had been able to thwart that man's plan, though gotten kidnapped while doing so. She could understand why the boy was taken. What she couldn't figure out was why that crime planner had released Ainosuke that easily.

There wasn't any ransom asked. A gift, the one who had called Kato-san's phone had said. And a gift it had been, she thought to herself.

And now it's happening all over again.

There are streams of big cases happening after one another. And again, Ainosuke had somehow knew about it before the case actually took place.

She let out a huge sigh. If only Ainosuke was less inquisitive. But, she smiled, Ainosuke would not be Ainosuke if he didn't.

Wait at minute though.

Her smile dropped as a new thought formed in her mind.

Just how was that possible? The previous cases, she could understand. They had somehow connected to Ainosuke's brother's death. But these new cases, they were completely unrelated. These cases had nothing to do with Ainosuke's dead brother.

Or had it?

That left eye had at first belonged to Ainosuke's brother. And if what Ainosuke saw were things that his brother had seen before his death...

How was it possible that Ainosuke's brother had seen those?

"Sayama-sensei?"

She started at the quiet voice pulling her from her musing. The car lurched briefly before she got it back under control. She sighed in relief while her heart still thumping wildly.

"You startled me, Ainosuke."

From the corner of her sight, she could see him slumping slightly.

"Sorry."

She shook her head.

"No, it's not your fault. I was daydreaming. So, what do you need?"

There was a slight pause before Ainosuke replied her.

"Can I borrow your phone?"

Though happy that he finally spoke more than one word sentence, she couldn't help but frown. "I don't mind, but who are you calling?"

"You have Kato-san's number, right?"

Her frown became deeper at that. "I do. Why do you need to call him though? Can it wait until later? He'll drop by the hospital later."

Another beat of silence and she wondered if she had scared him off. She was about to tell him to don't mind her when he spoke again.

"I think I now who was the culprit."

Her eyes widened and he jammed her foot to the break, causing the car to lurch into a stop rather abruptly. It was fortunate that the road was relatively empty.

"Eeeehhh?!"


	17. Episode 3, Part 5

k59: well.. i really have no excuse for this extreme lateness.. sorry~! i'll do better! promise! though lately i was thinking about a short kindaichi fanfic too, but... no! i've got so three stories to finish now! not to mention a one short series as well.. gosh, really, i brought this to myself.. anyway, i'm working on my pace and will try harder not to be side tracked by too many fanfics.. i'm going to start replying reviwes by directly by mail too starting from this chapter.. oh, n please wish me luck for this upcoming test i have on the 29th *bows*

* * *

><p>to ollie: i'm sorry for the very late update.. but thanks for reviewing :)<p>

to NihonMorgan14: thanks :) sorry for the late update..

to Mini Marauder: well, here's the next one :)

* * *

><p>Episode 3 Part 5 – 'Friends and Foes'<p>

xxx

xxx

"What are you doing, Kato-san?"

Said man started and immediately stood up from where he was crouching beside one of the table in the reception room. Trying not to look sheepish, he found himself face to face with Sakisaka.

"Eh? I wasn't doing anything."

The younger man raised an eyebrow, looking mildly amused. Kato had the inkling that he didn't buy what he had just said at all.

"Kato-san, you were glaring at that pork cutlet like it had murdered someone."

He sighed heavily and crossed his arms. He was already at his wits end from hitting dead ends everywhere he looked. Desperate time called for desperate measure, and so he had taken to try interpreting what Ainosuke-kun had said to him. So far, still no luck though.

"I was just doing what I had promised Ainosuke-kun earlier. Since Masuda-san had been taken to hospital and the video had been taken into custody, I might as well keep my promise."

Sakisaka's another eyebrow had joined the other by this time.

"You promised Ainosuke-kun to glare daggers at the pork cutlet," was said dryly.

Kato scowled at the younger police officer. It is either his temper fuse was shorter than normal or Sakisaka just had the ability to annoy people with just a few words.

"No. I promised him to look further into Taira Kouzou-san and pork."

The look on Sakisaka's face was so comical that he couldn't help but grin. He forgot that Sakisaka was new to dealing with Ainosuke-kun and was not yet used to the strange things that tended to happen around the teenager. He took it onto himself to elaborate.

"Ainosuke-kun is… special, I think we can say. Somehow he could just know about a case without us telling him anything. My last partner and I had learnt to take what he said seriously."

He had expected skepticism and disbelief from Sakisaka, but looking at the younger's face, he saw none of them. Instead, horror filled eyes bore into his own. He frowned.

"Sakisaka?"

The younger seemed to shake himself out of the stupor he had gotten into and managed a strained smile.

"Sorry. But to think that a child like Ainosuke-kun got involved with crime-fighting does not sit well with me."

"I feel that as well. But sometimes, his words are the only clue that we have."

He shrugged before turning back to the dishes on the table once again, frowning as he did so. What had Ainosuke-kun wanted him to do? There is nothing wrong with the pork cutlet. Aside from the – possibly – pig blood on the knife, he couldn't think of anything else.

"Maybe we can ask the cook."

"Huh?"

The younger man shrugged while smiling sheepishly, "Since you are adamant in keeping your promise, I may as well help a little."

He raised an eyebrow at that, but thought about it for a moment. Deciding that it was it was a logical thing to do, he gestured to the younger to follow him, berating himself for not thinking about that earlier.

That was as good of an idea as any, seeing that he had none at the moment.

xxx

Yumeto zoned out of the interrogation Kato-san was having with the hotel's cook. There was no point in listening anyway, since he knew what was happening today inside out.

The question, though, was how did Ainosuke know?

Taira Kozou and pork, Kato-san had said. The two, given the right meaning, would reveal what this case was about and how the murder attempts were carried out. The two, also, were things that his little brother should not have known about.

Arms mindlessly crossing in front of his chest, he leaned back onto the wall. His brain whirling inside his head, wracking itself for any way that his brother might have seen his files from somewhere. But no matter how long and hard he mulled it over, he just couldn't come up with anything. A feat that was very rarely come out, with him being a genius and all.

A sigh escaped him and he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Maybe he just looked at this all wrong. It could be that his little brother got the information from someone else as well.

But who?

The only one who had seen the full plan was him. Except…

His eyes narrowed dangerously as the thought formed inside his mind.

Except if someone had been successful in decoding the lock that he had put in his old laptop. That was the more likely scenario. And that someone must have told Ainosuke. But there were flaws in this scenario. The person could have easily gone to the police him or herself and the fact that the laptop was in the police's custody the last time he had checked.

He let out a frustrated breath.

He didn't need things like this on top of what he had to deal with now. His plan was a brilliant yet delicate thing. One wrong step and it will all crumble, each part had to be done precisely.

Oh, the things that he did for his brother, he snorted to himself.

"You're done daydreaming?"

He started and bit back a yelp. Trying to get his heart beat back to normal, he glared at the bemused police officer standing in front of him. The man ignored him and turned back to the cook, whom he realized were looking puzzled at their interaction.

"Thank you, once again, for your time."

Kato-san then proceeded to beckon him to follow him out of the kitchen. Yumeto did so, throwing a smile to the cook to be polite, before hurrying up to the now jogging police officer.

"Didn't take you for the daydreaming type, Sakisaka."

The jest came as soon as the door closed behind him and he had to grimace.

"It was called thinking, Kato-san. Daydreaming is for kids."

Kato only shrugged, "Whatever you say. Anyway, we really need to find Fukuchi-san."

Yumeto raised an eyebrow, "It will be easier if you had used your phone, Kato-san. Better yet, you communicator."

Instead of looking sheepish like he thought Kato-san would, the older man gave him an incredulous stare instead. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"You were really out of it, weren't you? I've already contacted him, we just need to arrest the culprit and secure the weapon. Fukuchi-san already made an announcement."

"You managed to solve the case just by interviewing the cook?"

A sigh, before Kato-san explained patiently. While still jogging to… some place he still did not know where.

"It wasn't me. Sayama-sensei called. Actually, just how out of it were you that you didn't even realize I got a phone call?"

Yumeto grimaced at that.

"Anyway, she said Ainosuke had something to talk to me about. I never imagined at he would proceed to give a rather detailed explanation of the case."

"What?!"

"I know, right? He just blurted out the whole thing, panicking and keep telling me to hurry before the deliveryman escape. Can you believe that the knife we've been looking for is actually a sharpened rib?"

He furrowed his eyebrow. Was he supposed to sigh in relief or in frustration, he didn't know anymore. This way he didn't need to attract unwanted attention to himself by magically solving the case. But now the mystery around his own brother was becoming thicker, a thing that he never thought possible.

Ainosuke had always been a rather simpleton.

"_Attention!"_

The jarring voice caused him to start, though his hand automatically reached for his communicator.

"_A red delivery truck has just driven off from the Pacific Exit! All personnel with vehicles, after it! Top priority! I repeat, top priority!"_

Well, that's his queue.

He took off, easily passing by Kato-san, running with all his might to the nearest exit. From behind him, he could hear Kato-san chasing him, yelling as he did so.

"Sakisaka! Oi, Sakisaka! Where the hell are you going?!"

He sped up in response, resisting an urge to sigh in frustration. He swore sometimes Kato-san could be just as slow as Ainosuke.

"Doing as ordered!"

"But that's the wrong way! The police cars are the other way!"

"Car's too slow! We need a motorcycle if we are to have a chance to catch up with it!"

"We don't exactly have motorcycles to be– Oi! Sakisaka!"

Ignoring the man's shouts, he continued to sprint, only slowing down when the exit is within sight. Fishing for his police badge, he looked around and found a group of young men – who appeared to be college students – and, to his relief, their motorcycles.

"Excuse me," he approached them, showing them his police badge as he did. "I'm from the police and, if possible, I need to borrow one of your motorcycles. Immediately."

xxx

"I'm back!"

He looked up from where he had been staring at his hands all this while. His teacher was grinning cheerfully as she stepped into the room and closed the door. He managed a weak smile and a quiet, "welcome back," but from the way her grin dimmed somewhat, he knew that she had been hoping for a more enthusiastic reply.

It seemed that Sayama-sensei did not let it get to her for long though, as she brightened up again almost immediately and started waving the plastic bag she had brought with her, "And I brought food as promised!"

He didn't even have time to say something – that he wasn't hungry – before a lidded bowl was pushed into his hands. Blinking in a trance as the school nurse proceeded to take the lid off and dump a spoon into the bowl, it took him a few seconds to react properly.

"Sayama-sensei, I'm really not that –"

"Now, none of that," he had to admit that his teacher looked rather menacing with that stern expression. "You need food if you want to recover. Besides, I got this miso soup with seaweed and tofu from my favourite place. You'll love it."

Sighing, he took the spoon and complied, knowing that it's better to obey the school nurse than to argue. Besides, the soup did smell good.

The sound of the door being opened made him to once again look up, just in time to see Kato-san poked his head inside.

"Ah, you're eating," the police officer observed as he stepped in. "That's good."

"He has not," Sayama-sensei protested as Fukuchi-san and his brother stepped in as well. "He was just finally going to eat when you interrupted."

"The case is closed."

The stern voice of Fukuchi-san effectively stopped whatever Kato-san was going to retort back as all eyes moved to stare at him.

"Thanks to you, once again, Ainosuke-kun."

The mention of how this was not the first time he had helped the police was not lost to him. He bit his bottom lip and put his spoon back down, furiously thinking of how he could explain his situation without giving anything away. Or be seen as an insane person.

It was a few of the most uncomfortable and awkward minutes of his life. He saw both Kato-san and Sayama-sensei exchange a look. The two of them were two of three who knew about his left eye and had probably reached the conclusion that what happened around three months ago had once again happened.

He turned his sight to their right and was unprepared for the scrutinizing gazes that met him. He knew that Fukuchi-san would be suspicious of him and his calculating look was somewhat expected. But his brother…

Never in his life had he seen his brother giving him such look, like he was some mystery to be solved. And he was not sure if this was a good or bad thing.

"Eat, Ainosuke."

All gazed moved to the owner of the voice, who had pursed her lips in displeasure.

"Right," Fukuchi-san heaved a sigh. "I guess we better let you rest. After all that happened today, you're going to need it. Sayama-sensei, if you'd be kind to return my car key?"

He watch in ill-concealed amusement as his teacher fumbled with her purse for a moment before brandishing a key with a triumphant smile. When the key was safely back to its rightful owner – Fukuchi-san had heaved another sigh – Sayama-sensei abruptly turned to him, much to his confusion.

"Sayama-sensei…?"

When her hand came up and got too close to his face, he reflexively closed his eyes. He had been a receiver of her right hook and it was something that he definitely did not want to repeat.

Instead of a hit though, he felt a soft touch to the back of his head and then to his temple.

His eyes flew open to stare at her wide eyed, but his teacher only smiled gently at him. Blinking rather dazedly, he opened his mouth – though he was not sure what he was going to say – only to be distracted once again. This time by a hand ruffling his already disarrayed hair, courtesy of Kato-san.

"See you tomorrow. Get some rest, alright?"

And then the four of them were gone.

Even for minutes after they've been gone, he could only stare at the door, blinking slowly. That was the most affectionate both Sayama-sensei and Kato-san had been with him. He let out a sigh. It seemed like what he had done today had worried them more than he had thought.

He shook his head tiredly. It felt as if everything had become even more confusing and tangled with each other. Everything was a mess and he was so tired. Perhaps a walk would do him good.

Just as he was about to threw the blanket off him though, his stomach gave a loud protest. Great, now his stomach was also conspiring against him.

Well, he settled back with a sigh, it would have to wait until he finished eating then.

What he didn't know was that, too dazed as he was with what his two self proclaimed guardians had done, he had not noticed the nostalgic and somewhat pained look that a pair of brown eyes had directed at him earlier.

xxx

Noriko gave a satisfied smirk as she finished her job.

This was just far too easy. This hospital really needed to upgrade its security, for it did not give her trouble in the slightest to parade around as a doctor here. All the staffs just assumed that she was new here. The fools.

She gave a last satisfied smirk before turning around and heading to the door. Her mission accomplished, there was no point in staying there longer than necessary.

"Well then, Masuda-sama," she purred, a mock concerned tone in her honeyed voice, "I wish you both a good night and swift recovery."

With a smirk that was purely sadistic looking, she turned around and headed to the door. Only to have it slid open before she even had the chance to reach for it.

For a moment, she felt a jolt of trepidation ran through her, for she had thought that she had been discovered by a hospital personnel. But then she caught the patient kimono that the person was wearing and started to breathe more easily. When her gaze finally fell on the face of the intruder, all of her trepidation imeediately melted away. Instead, she felt a gleeful sort of anticipation filled her.

Because right in front of her, garbed with white hospital kimono and blinking up at her with wide brown eyes, stood none other than her leader's cute little brother, Tanaka Ainosuke.

_Found you._

~End of Episode 2~


End file.
